A frequently used process

Much of my work involves embroidered imagery drawn from photography. I thought I'd begin here with a little tour through a process I often use to turn a photograph into an embroidery pattern, using an older piece as a model.

To begin, I select an image in which the subject is clearly visible, such as this one:


I scan the image, resize as needed, adjust brightness and contrast, and print it out in black and white, like so:


Next I draw over the image, picking out lines and shapes I want to end up in the eventual embroidery pattern:


Once the line drawing is complete, I retrace the image on to the tracing paper I use as my pattern:


And so goes the process:


With the pattern ready, I can adhere it to my chosen cloth and stitch away, perforating the paper with my stitches so that it is easily removed when I am done. This is the finished embroidery of that piece:


It's a bit of a time consuming and labor intensive way to go about turning the image into the pattern, but then, most of my work is time consuming and labor intensive, and I rather enjoy it. I'm a time consuming/labor intensive appreciative kind of girl.

(The entire piece can be seen here!)