Embroidery has been around forever — the earliest surviving pieces of this craft are Scythian, dated to between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE. Virtually every culture has some form of it in their textile art history.
As artist couple Charles and Elin highlighted, the application of embroidery is endless: add some stitches to your shoes, clothes, or bags to upcycle their look. What's that, you want to decorate your walls? No problem, embroidery can help you do that too.
The subreddit r/Embroidery is a perfect example of all its possibilities. With 430K members, this online community unites all enthusiasts of the trade who want to exchange tips, techniques, resources, ideas, and to show off their greatest works, of course. At this time, let's focus on the latter.
#1 Dr Jill Bidens Coat For Inauguration Night, Featuring All 50 State Flowers. Uruguayan-American Designer Gabriela Hearst Said Each Flower To Between 2-4 Hours By Hand
Image credits: everybodylovesmemore
#2 2nd Finished Hoop, Inspired By Hawaii! Experimented W/ Layering Tulle For Water Depth
Image credits: DallasNagataWhite
#3 Cockatiel
Image credits: reddit.com
#4 My Girlfriend Just Passed Away But This Was The Last Thing She Embroidered. It's A Bowl Of Ramen, Our Favorite Thing To Eat Together
Image credits: HugoMcChunky
#5 This Tabby Cat Has So Many Layers Of Stitches That It’s Giving Me A Full Arm Workout
Image credits: Florally
#6 My Take On Homer. I Never Expected How Many Hours (And Meters Of Thread) This Is Going To Take But The Result Was Totally Worth It!
Image credits: Comiltove
#7 Diving
Image credits: bluehydrangea
#8 Duck
Image credits: bluehydrangea
#9 Made This Yesterday
Image credits: Chuckbigtooth
#10 My Most Detailed Piece To Date - Took ~6wks, Single Strand!
Image credits: vicysem
#11 A Crow I've Been Embroidering For A Few Months Now. Still Gotta Give Him Feet And A Rock To Stand On
Image credits: shelbyelizabethart
#12 Bubbles!
Image credits: hvalur87
#13 5.5 Skeins Later, I Finished My Piece! Extremely Happy With It
Image credits: bonesnappletea
#14 My Most Recent Embroidery! Im So Proud Of It !
Image credits: laptitecaliss
#15 A 3D Skeleton In The Undergrowth
Image credits: t0nkatsu
#16 I Made Some Hand Embroidery Design On Sweaters For A Friend And This One Is My Favorite
Image credits: riaparamita
#17 Fish
Image credits: hvalur87
#18 My Best Friend Eloped And Moved To A New City! Very Happy To Give Them This Gift To Remember Some Wonderful Things That Happened During This Otherwise Difficult Year
Image credits: karoot
#19 Currently Making Jar Covers For Some Of My Favorite Herbs
Image credits: wabisabimori
#20 Borrowed A Page Out Of Hannah Hill’s Book For My Second Project. Happy Women’s History Month!
Image credits: laurenlegends23
#21 I'm Very Proud Of My First Two-Hoop Design!
Image credits: jevoudraislepoutine
#22 I’ve Really Tried To Improve My Embroidered Cat Portraits This Year And I’m So Happy About How This One Came Out! I Almost Quit A Few Times And Started Over But It All Worked Out In The End
Image credits: Florally
#23 I Made A Little Reference Piece For My Future Embroidery Projects. No More Guessing How Many Strands I Should Use And Regretting It Later
Image credits: NeedlessDesigns
#24 And That’s A Wrap On 2020! I’ve Had Such A Great Time Working On This Piece Over The Past 366 Days, I Can’t Wait To See What 2021 Has In Store!
Image credits: surrey95
#25 I Used The Holidays To Finish My Lady And The Tramp Design. I Hope You Like It!
Image credits: HardcoreLock
#26 I Couldn’t Help Myself
Image credits: masters5678
#27 First Time Posting Here, Fourth Kit Completed
Image credits: dandyandersen
#28 My Second Embroidery Piece - A Scene From 'Howls Moving Castle'
Image credits: evesarahfran
#29 The Finished Little Birdie In Docs!
Image credits: Oh-Sew-Amelia
#30 Embroidered My Corduroys Today
Image credits: spookened
#31 Embroidered Masks!
Image credits: jaswenli
#32 Putting The Hand In Hand Embroidery
Image credits: 3bitesin
#33 Thought I'd Practice Some Outlines For Spooky Season... Then I Looked At The Back
Image credits: chippidy56
#34 I Embroidered A Field Full Of Poppies On A Mini Canvas And Loving The Result
Image credits: TheJollyJasper
#35 I'm So Proud To Share My Embroidery Progress From 2014 - 2020. No Talent Here, Just Hours And Hours Of Practice And Hard Work!
Image credits: Florally
#36 Did A Picture Of My Friends On Their Wedding Day
Image credits: curtainsofatv
#37 It’s Not Perfect, But I’m Very Proud Of This!
Image credits: jellybellyhelly
#38 I Tried To Do A Self Portrait
Image credits: laptitecaliss
#39 Tried My Hand At Hair Embroidery. Scene Of Jim And Pam From The Final Season Of The Office
Image credits: Ladamania
#40 Progress: Nicki, Me, Hand Embroidery And Beading On Cotton, 2020. Whatchu Think!?
Image credits: themuffinjones
#41 This Embroidery Took Me Over 40 Hours To Finish But I'm So Proud Of It!
Image credits: Florally
#42 I’m So Happy With How This Turned Out
Image credits: fatcatfatsack
#43 Brand New At Posting On Reddit, But I Brought This Little Pink Cow To Say Hi!! I Hope It... Amooses You
Image credits: _bitterblooming
#44 So Proud Of These Sardines!
Image credits: cremepat
#45 Cereal Splash
Image credits: bluehydrangea
#46 A Really Impressive Embroidered Kitchen Garden
Image credits: scramsamsax
#47 My Dad's Handwriting. A Reminder For Myself. I Miss Him Every Day
Image credits: izzysweetleaf
#48 Alien Abduction Mixed Media Embroidery Hoop, One Of My Faves I’ve Done!
Image credits: anniesews
#49 Update: After All Those French Knots I'm Almost Tempted To Leave It Like This... Almost!
Image credits: simple-egg
#50 My First Embroidered Landscape! This Took Me 4 Months To Finish!
Image credits: Lov3sther
#51 Embroidery Has Saved My Sanity These Last Couple Of Days!
Image credits: AceLogic27
#52 Floating Embroideries. Embroidery On Tulle Using Silk Ribbon, Tapestry And Threads
Image credits: linenandfred
#53 You Need To Squint For This One
Image credits: violence_connoisseur
#54 My Girlfriend Did This, Proud Of Her
Image credits: fitrianthony
#55 Slurp
Image credits: DiademaJenks
#56 I’m Not Creative, But My Therapist Suggested I Try Embroidery To Help With My Anxiety. When I Started This Pre-Drawn Pattern I Didn’t Even Know How To Hold A Needle, Took It One Stitch At A Time. There Were A Lot Of Mistakes, But I’m Chuffed! I Hope You Like It
Image credits: CarelessFix
#57 Decided To Try And Recreate My Son’s Favourite Sweatshirt From When He Was 6 For A Christmas Present This Year. He’s Now 26 And 6’4”. I’ll Let You Know What He Thinks!
Image credits: JanisARo
#58 Finally Finished This One For Myself. My Favorite Pusheen Drawing
Image credits: meower57
#59 All Finished. Natasha Lyonne In Role As Nadia Vulvokov From "Russian Doll." 40ish Hours Of Stitching, Mostly Consumed By Her Amazing Hair
Image credits: jaygel_threads
#60 As Requested, A Throwback To My First Three Hawaiian Shirt Hoops...almost A Year Ago!
Image credits: Jenannsmith
#61 Paper Plane
Image credits: dalamadamadingdong
#62 Christmas Present For My Dad. Whenever He’s Feeling Proud Of Me He Will Look At Me, Look Down At His Arm, And Say “Right Here, You Used To Fit Right Here” In Reference To Being Able To Hold Me In One Arm As A Baby. I Love Him
Image credits: karmaggie
#63 My First Fine Detail Embroidery Piece
Image credits: OmNomNom45
#64 The Root Of All Trust Issues: Sewing Supplies In A Cookie Tin
Image credits: stitching_wildflower
#65 After 100ish Hours Of Work, I’m So Happy To Say This Beast Is Done!!
Image credits: seejor
#66 You Seemed To Enjoy My Treehouse, Here Is Another Piece Inspired By The Same Metropark!
Image credits: britneykayembroidery
#67 I'm Very Obviously A Beginner, But My Boyfriend Had One Request For A Birthday Gift, And Who Was I To Say No
Image credits: -lemonworld
#68 Figures In A Pool
Image credits: Just-Seaweed
#69 Phew! Don’t Think I Will Use Blue Thread Again For A While
Image credits: nikitaschultz
#70 A Present For My Beekeeping Boyfriend. My First Big Embroidery Project!
Image credits: Azuriteblue
#71 First Time I Embroidered With Wool. Love How Fluffy It Looks. What Do You Think? The Pattern Was Designed By Me
Image credits: okcoolkaren
#72 Tried My Hand At That Koi Pond Embroidery. I Love How It Turned Out! It's A Gift For My Sister Who Loves Koi
Image credits: crazycatlady1919
#73 Finished This Botanical Lemon
Image credits: charlieismycat
#74 Just A Pile Of Fish Heads
Image credits: cremepat
#75 I Just Recently Got Into Embroidery And Made This Face Mask. So Happy How It Turned Out!
Image credits: fancy-feast-fun
#76 My Glow Up
Image credits: rachelle_makes_stuff
#77 A Billion Colonial Knots Later...
Image credits: tkoctopus
#78 Death Cab For Cutie- Transatlanticism Album Art
Image credits: darkvisionarts
#79 .
Image credits: bluehydrangea
#80 I’m In Love With This Wave Again So Little Embroidery
Image credits: embroiderybynusik
#81 This Studio Ghibli Embroidery Of Mine Has Been Rattling Around The Internet For A Few Months, But It’s My First Time Posting On Reddit
Image credits: sydstitch
#82 Embroidered My Dissertation Topic Onto A Sweatshirt!
Image credits: smallconfusedbi
#83 For Those Who Always Wonder How Long It Takes Me, I Like To Show Them This Picture: One Year Worth Of Completed Pieces
Image credits: Satellite_Stitches
#84 Mice With Their Berries By Mayuka Morimoto
Image credits: Pyperina
#85 I Did Something With My Sweater
Image credits: newsensequeen
#86 In Honor Of National Embroidery Month...my Studio Wall Full Of My Embroidery Hoops!
Image credits: Jenannsmith
#87 [fo] I Something New... Aerial Embroidery. Its Messy But A Good Start
Image credits: 23poppies
#88 My Friends Were Making Enough Sourdough To Feed Half The World, So I Decided To Do This. Flowerbomb...my Fjällräven Kånken Laptop 13" In Ox Red
Image credits: miss_solrik
#89 Honey Bee Embroidery On A Guitar Strap
Image credits: Mossandfeather
#90 Finished My Strawberry Hat Just In Time For Spring
Image credits: sneakysneakysnail
#91 Lazy Daisy Stitch For Daaaays(Ies)
Image credits: dascitron
#92 My Latest Creation - An Embroidered Potting Shed!
Image credits: sewbotanical
#93 My Grandad Passed Away Last Friday, I’m In Denmark And Can’t Get Back To The UK To Be With My Family & Say Goodbye. So I Spent The Week Working Through My Grief By Creating This Piece
Image credits: jadeillustrates
#94 My First Embroidery In The "Thread Painted" Style vs. My Most Recent, Just Over Three Years Apart. Practice Really Does Pay Off!
Image credits: ell_violet
#95 Y’all! I Just Placed My Last Stitch! I Haven’t Washed Or Finished The Back Yet, But After Over 50 Hours Of Work... I Had To Share With Someone!
Image credits: MiscLisa
#96 It Was Out Of My Comfort Zone But Very Proud Of The Outcome
Image credits: jane-plain
#97 Made This For A Friend Of Her Beautiful Home Village
Image credits: karoot
#98 Sunflowers And Pumpkins. An Autumnal Embroidered Landscape
Image credits: chloe_sews_
#99 5 Days And A Hundred French Knots Later
Image credits: ejhc13
#100 Wanderer
Image credits: Ammocharis
#101 Been Struggling With Intrusive Thoughts Lately, This Was The Result
Image credits: thevampireswidow
#102 After Years Of Stitching Other People’s Pets, I Finally Embroidered My Own Girl: Meet Abby!
Image credits: Soup_n_sammies
#103 My First Attempt At Embroidering
Image credits: ohwonderislife
#104 Helped My 70 Year Old Aunt Move Today And Was Just Floored By This Wildflower Map Of The United States. She Said Her Grandmother (My Great Grandma) Had Made It
Image credits: Rhutred
#105 I Hand-Embroidered Some Leaves Onto A Dress I Made Myself
Image credits: strassenstickel
#106 Second Time Embroidering, First Time Needle Felting!
Image credits: mvpham
#107 Blue Porcelain Inspired Hoop!
Image credits: neon-brown
#108 Did I Just Spend Several Hours Embroidering A Deer To Fix A Very Tiny Hole In My Scarf? Yes. Yes I Did
Image credits: FulmarusGlacialis
#109 Hear Me Out: Another Ramen Bowl
Image credits: skullandvoid
#110 Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) - Howl’s Secret Garden
Image credits: honestlymari
#111 I’ve Cross Stitched For Years, But Finally Made The Jump To Embroidery. My First Piece Isn’t Perfect But I Love It!
Image credits: Blueskittle101
#112 It Took A Month, But I Got My Brother’s Birthday Present Done With Time To Spare!!! Calvin And Hobbes!
Image credits: DrawYourSword
#113 Frog
Image credits: bluehydrangea
#114 My Endlessly-Talented Girlfriend Made This Freehand Embroidery Of Hogwarts
Image credits: JJFord19
#115 My Sisters First Ever Embroidery Piece. She's Never Even Done The Practice Hoop. I'm So Proud Of How Well She's Done, Maybe A Little Jealous
Image credits: GrubbyInsides
#116 I Wouldn’t Usually Post A Wip But I’m Super Proud Of The Progress On This One So Far
Image credits: jadeillustrates
#117 Shirt Makeover No. 3
Image credits: digitifera
#118 Little Night Time Garden
Image credits: untiltuesday
#119 A Little Progress Every Day Leads To Big Results! My Embroidery From 2016 vs. 2020
Image credits: Florally
#120 Now The Proud Owner Of Carpal Tunnel Disease
Image credits: Norskland
#121 I Abandoned A Project That Was All Browns And Greys In Favor Of Some Color! Fruit Salad Season Is Coming Up
Image credits: karoot
#122 A Rainbow Of Abstract Pieces I've Been Working On This Year
Image credits: Ithelda
#123 Slowly Embroidering My Way Through A Book Full Of Botanical Illustrations! This Is My Latest Project - Heath Aster
Image credits: breadistry
#124 Ive Been Doing Embroidery For 2 Months Now And I’m Very Proud Of This One I Recently Finished “Atlas” (Based Off A Renaissance Sketch)
Image credits: nillkay1970
#125 The Beach, Needle Painting Landscape, 39 Colors Used
Image credits: Miuembroidery
#126 Spent My First Day Of School Quarantine Embroidering The External Carotid Vessels
Image credits: MedZeppelin
#127 My Wife Made Starry Night Using Inward Spiralling Lines
Image credits: Blackintosh
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