Pillow Patches

Pillow patches are a project that I began in 2020 when I purchased my first chainstitch machine. I had been making one off embellishment pieces using a punch needle and I loved the look it created. It made everything look like a little miniature carpet and I just loved the depth it created. When I found that could be created quickly and more uniformly with a chainstitch machine using the worm gear flipped backwards- I was determined to get my own.

I'm still experimenting and trialing different ways of creating depth using alternative methods on the chainstitch machine. Pillow patches are made using layers of cotton filling and delicately clipping back the excess fabric around my paintings and designs. I print the designs on fabric using an altered home machine and cotton sheeting. Pickle people pieces start as watercolor, ink and pen drawings that are scanned into a computer then printed onto fabric. Most other designs are drawn using an apple pencil and a digital tablet that are then printed on cotton.