In The Studio with Julie Crawford
Spend sometime in the studio with Julie Crawford! Julie is teaching for the first time at the workroom this fall and we are looking for to learning all about embroidery with her. Julie's website Knitted Bliss started life as a knitting blog in 2006 and has grown to offer a wide range of embroidery kits, video tutorials and knitting patterns. Julie helps knitters and crafters get inspired by taking their embroidery skills to the next level with her uniquely styled, complete training courses and patterns.
What’s your earliest memory of making something with your hands?
That would have to be learning to knit from my grandmother. I had these bright green plastic knitting needles, and I was making a white and purple garter stitch scarf. I wore it a lot, I was so proud when I finished it!
If you had to describe your making style in three words, what would they be?
colourful, natural, easy. I'm a big fan of keeping things as easy as possible.
What’s one unconventional tool or supply you swear by in your practice?
Ziploc bags. I have loads of project bags, but I can't see through them! I use all sizes of ziploc bags to corral my supplies for everything.
What’s an embroidery rule you love to break—and why?
The idea that you have to know exactly how to do a bunch of embroidery stitches. While you can learn all kinds of stitches, there are so many you'd be learning forever- and since almost every culture has a version of embroidery, sometimes there are different names for basically the same stitch. I tell my students all the time- think of embroidery as adult colouring with thread. trace the lines, fill in the shapes. There are no embroidery police coming if you decide to just wing it.
Tell us about a “happy accident” in your work—something that went wrong but turned into something amazing.
I was working on an embroidery prop for a TV show - they needed a finished hoop, and an 'in-progress' hoop, for the character to stitch on. The idea was a more experienced stitcher stitched most of it, and a complete amateur finished it. I kept sending photos and they kept responding back, 'No, make it messier. Messier!' I was horrified, in the end I feel it looks like a deranged toddler stitched the 'amateur' section, but the director was happy. This was a real learning experience in learning to let go of what I felt looked 'good'. I'm not a perfectionist, but I tend to like my embroidery to not be so abstract. Since then, i'm like, 'what about making it more abstract? what would that look like, feel like?' There's more than one way to make something look good.
What’s one thing students always say after taking your class?
Without fail, someone always says, "that was so much easier than I thought it would be!" because that's the big secret of embroidery - it looks delicate and complicated, but it's actually easy and quite sturdy.
If you could design a dream project with unlimited resources, what would it be?
I would love to do a massive installation, a whole scene, maybe something historical. Embroidery, appliqué, as big as a house!
What’s your best advice for someone feeling stuck or intimidated by the creative process?
Take a break from social media. If I spend too much time on social media, I'm convinced everyone is better than me, more talented, smarter, more savvy with their business, has more beautiful crafting spaces or supplies, etc. It's so hard to remember that whatever you are looking at is very carefully curated to look exactly like that, and it might be very far from reality. You can't compare someone's work that they've been doing for over a decade to something you are just learning. And even if you were both working on the same thing for the same amount of time, your perspectives and choices will be different, because you're unique. And you're the only one who could make it exactly like that.
If you could collaborate with any designer, artist, or historical figure (alive or not), who would it be and why?
Vivienne Westwood, maybe? I have no idea! Would love to do some bespoke embroidered garments.
What’s one thing about you that most people wouldn’t expect?
I'm a member of a women's vespa group in Toronto. It's all about creating an encouraging and inclusive community for women riders. We often go for ice cream, and there's usually a wardrobe component- boiler suits, and vintage! I have a vintage boiler suit I'm planning on embroidering this winter.
Can you tell us a little about who or what inspired your knitting and embroidery journey and how you came to combine the two?
I had a knitting blog during the heydey of blogging, so I was plugged into a community of knitters and makers already. I love how embroidery lets you do just about anything to fabric - and on any type of fabric!- that embroidering on knits felt like a natural step for me, since I was already a prolific knitter and understood the fabric of knits really well. What I love about it is it works for store bought knits and handknits, crocheted items, cotton, linen, any type of fabric. The versatility and endless applicability of embroidery makes my brain fizz like champagne. And there is no one type of style with embroidery, and no one type of style for knits, so the possibilities are absolutely endless.
Are there any specific skills you would like to explore or expand on to grow your personal making practice?
I keep thinking I'd love to take up quilting - embroidery incorporated into quilts! - but I despise ironing and I hear there's a lot of ironing involved. Maybe one day. I also think I'd love to take a really fancy embroidery workshop in person at the Royal School of Needlework at the Hampton Court Palace in the UK- Learning goldwork or human figure silk shading. Which is funny, because I am all about keeping it easy and casual, and I feel like that would not be an easy and casual thing to do! Maybe after that, ironing quilt seams will look like a walk in the park.
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In The Studio is a regular series where you can meet and learn a little more about the guest teachers we learn with and who inspire us with at the workroom.
Read all the profiles including :
- Ron Collins - Canada’s best known sewing personality and is adored as a designer, speaker and teacher.
- Sherri Lynn Wood - Sherri Lynn teaches improvisational quilting as a creative life practice, and is considered an expert innovator and leader in the modern improv quilting movement.
