Bewitching Stitching

by Jan

photo by Kenneth B. Gall

When we first got a look at Jenny Hart's embroidery work, we could hardly contain our excitement. Long having ached for embroidery patterns that branched out from the standard cutesy country and maudlin sentiment, Jenny's crewelwork retro portraits were a welcome discovery. Even better that she offers nifty iron on patterns that allow the rest of us to whip up kitchen towels bedecked with kitschy patterns like a tattoo-style knife through the heart, a saucy space traveler, or a martini glass.

As a kid, Jenny dabbled in embroidery, but she too found herself bored with the prospect of toiling away on patterns of cottages by streams and the like. So, for some time she just admired the embroidery crafted by other folks. It wasn't until two years ago when she visited the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph Missouri that she realized what she could do with embroidery.

She wouldn't speak with the nurses, but would instead cover sheets and pillowcases with words, bits of song or poetry in all colors of thread.

"I saw a work of hand-embroidery that had been done by a former patient of the ward," says Jenny. "She wouldn't speak with the nurses, but would instead cover sheets and pillowcases with words, bits of song or poetry in all colors of thread. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I saw it and knew embroidery was so easy anyone could do it. And that it could be used to make incredibly beautiful things in ways I hadn't thought of before. I started imagining people's faces in embroidery and things I hadn't seen before in embroidery that now I wanted to embroider, just to see it in thread. I also learned that stitching on a cloth is extremely relaxing and the perfect antidote (for me anyway) to depression and anxiety."

Jenny had been blogging for a while and decided she'd start posting images of her embroidery work online. Her Sublime Stitching site grew from there and folks from all over started visiting to take a gander at her embroidered portraits. The idea of creating updated embroidery patterns had long been brewing in the back of her mind, so she decided to turn the website into a small business selling embroidery transfers she designs herself.

"It snowballed from there," says Jenny, "and now I'm a craft designer, and I show my art in the 'back room' of the site. Coupled with my own feelings about embroidery, I saw it as a really great way to get new designs out there, encourage other people to try embroidery. Everyone was knitting, and I couldn't find many people embroidering."

As for pattern styles, Jenny favors streamlined, 50's design. "Anything that's whimsical, and decorative inspires my patterns," she says. "The irony of my patterns is that they're updated designs for craft, but the patterns are pretty much vintage themes that would have been common in the ‘50s and ‘60s."

As for her own work, she's inspired to create portraits of people she admires or is intrigued by. "A portrait can be such a serious thing," says Jenny. "It can be a memorial, a testament to one's life, a critique of a person, all those things. That's how I approach my embroidered works when I look for my subject matter."

Sublime Stitching has become a 24/7 business for Jenny. And she cautions other folks considering a craft-based business to plan carefully before starting out. "Be sure if you are planning on selling a hand-made item that you have a plan for increasing production," she advises, "and that you really, really love doing it! Many have complained that a small business venture ruined a beloved hobby."

Being flexible has also been important to the success of Sublime Stitching. "I tried selling a pillow a while back that I thought people would go nuts for, but didn't," she explains. "So, I'm going to re-introduce it as a kit. I think handmade, or ready-made items aren't as popular as my patterns and kits. Which is nice. I like to offer unique pincushions, or unusual stitching paraphernalia when I can."

One of Jenny's crafty heroines is Liza Lou, the artist who said she plans to "bead the world." "What she does with beading is what I strive for with embroidery," says Jenny, "but I haven't come close yet. When I have more time to focus on my own artwork, I'd like to do work of a similar scale in embroidery. She'll bead the world, I'll embroider it."

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