Flower embroidery has always been a favorite way for fiber artists to express themselves. The universal language of flowers appeals across time and across cultures.
Flowers can be bold, quiet, huge, tiny, mysterious, whimsical, symmetrical, wild, soft, thorny, carefully cultivated or totally out of control. Just like us!
There is no end to the creative possibilities in flower embroidery, from stitching a flower on a shirt pocket to composing complex works of art.
Fortunately, contemporary embroidery artists inspire us with an abundant range of work that embraces styles that are as unique as they – and we – are. Here are some of our favorites. To learn more about the artists, check out their Spotlight interviews on Create Whimsy.
Aimee Ray
Aimee Ray makes a variety of flowers using French knots, Buillion stitch, single chain, daisy stitch and more!
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Jenny Clouston
Jenny Clouston wrote the book ‘Foolproof Flower Embroidery‘, so naturally she has amazing ideas and techniques for embroidering flowers with a variety of stitches.
Rosemary Drysdale
Rosemary Drysdale can’t imagine her life without stitch. It’s in her genes. Her British mother and grandfather are from a long line of tailors; her Scottish grandparents, and generations before them, were avid knitters. Surrounded by fabrics, yarns, needles and threads from a very early age, she really has no memory of learning how to embroider, sew or knit. She just seemed to absorb it all by osmosis. These sweet flowers are satin stitch with a button for the center.
Sharon Boggon
Sharon Boggon may have been born stitching – she doesn’t remember being taught, she has just always created with needle and thread. And we reap the benefits of her years of hard work to fine-tune her artistry! Sharon’s embroidery and crazy quilts are inspiring, and she freely shares her knowledge through her books and online community. Sharon uses a variety of stitches for her flower embroidery, including French knots and detached daisy chain stitch.
Jessica Long
Like so many others, Jessica Long loved art as a child, but was steered in a more “practical” direction for a career. When she found herself in an area with few jobs in her field, she re-examined her creative side with embroidery and has never looked back! Jessica has mastered the satin stitch in her embroidery work.
Michelle Kingdom
With a strong sense of narrative, Michelle Kingdom embraces embroidery as an art form that has long been sidelined as “women’s work”. With lines of stitching, she creates textural drawings that explore stories of identity, relationships and perceptions. Tiny French knots make the flowers in this embroidery piece by Michelle.
Christen Brown
With a needle in her hand since the age of 7, Christen Brown creates lush embroidered and beaded pieces to wear and admire. Generous with her knowledge, she shares her designs and techniques via workshops and a collection of books with detailed how-to instructions.
Brian Haggard
Brian Haggard has a gift for seeing vintage items and reimagining them combined into a cohesive work of fiber art. He artfully blends old with new to create an entirely new piece that speaks with a unified voice.
Laura Wasilowski
When you see a Laura Wasilowski quilt or embroidered art, you can’t help but smile. Her whimsical pictorial art quilts use her own hand-dyed fabrics and threads to depict fanciful scenes. Always up for a new experience, Laura’s recent work includes whimsical embroideries stitched on a wool background, adding new texture to her art. Laura uses a variety of stitches to create layers of flower embroidery.
Kathy Schmitz
The fun, whimsical embroidery designs that Kathy Schmitz creates often begin with doodles. And who doesn’t love to doodle? Kathy elevates her doodles to finished embroidery designs that both experienced stitchers and newbies will enjoy.
Michele Pollock
Keeping her mind and heart open to the creative possibilities during life’s challenges keeps artist Michele Pollock on the hunt for new ways to express herself. When a neurological disorder sidelined her usual way of working, she discovered that the artist in her could thrive if she stopped to listen to her hands, then embraced the new path. She stitches paper to create her flower embroidery.
More inspiration for flower embroidery designs:
I love old linens. It’s something about the stories they could tell if they could talk. Who was the person who created this? Was it for herself to enjoy? Or a gift for a loved one? Did she enjoy the process of slow stitching as much as I do? Enjoy browsing through some of the flower embroidery designs in my collection of vintage linens.
Find more embroidery inspiration on Create Whimsy.