Like many of my artistic endeavors, the story of my Gypsy Pieces started with the concept of upcycling. At Anita, we produce a wealth of lace—test stitch outs, samples for shows, and other remnants. Unfortunately, once we’ve utilized these materials, they often find themselves tucked away in drawers, destined to remain unseen and unused.

A few years back, during an art opening, I faced a fascinating challenge: I was asked to create a piece live. While embroidery is undoubtedly a captivating art form, watching a single design stitch for four hours can be less than riveting for an audience. In an effort to bring excitement and engagement to the event, I began rummaging through my stash of stitch-outs, scraps, and forgotten lace. It was then that I stumbled upon a drawer brimming with metallic gold lace flowers. Instantly, an idea sparked in my mind—what if I could do something extraordinary with these delicate pieces?

Adding a twist to my vision, I also fancied the idea of crafting a skull sculpture with my 3D printer. Picture this: a skull adorned with intricate lace flowers. As unconventional as it sounded, I was determined to bring this concept to life.

I set to work, 3D printing a skull and then painting it in gleaming gold. With a bucket full of lace flowers by my side, I meticulously glued each one to the skull during the live event. The process took about three hours, and while it required patience and precision, the end result was nothing short of stunning. The interplay of the lace's soft texture and the skull's form created a captivating visual contrast that truly made the piece come alive.

Every flower in the Gypsy pieces are placed and glued down one at a time, they crate a stunning cllaged landscape when complete.

This moment of creation led to a series of skulls in various colors and styles, each one more breathtaking than the last. But here's the remarkable part: every single skull was crafted using just one embroidery design—the flower.

The success of the skulls inspired me to take my experimentations further. As I pondered the next step, I thought, “What if, instead of limiting myself to a single color design, I played with a multitude of designs stitched together in a cohesive color theme and curated them into a collage?” Thus, the Gypsy Pieces were born. This innovative approach allowed me to explore new dimensions of creativity and expression.

Since that fateful day, my journey has blossomed into the creation of hundreds of art pieces using the Gypsy embroidery technique. This breakthrough not only reshaped my artistic process but was also featured in Signature Series 5. I even based my hands-on Artful Embroidery class around this technique, sharing the joyful practice of upcycling with fellow artists and eager learners.

The skulls and unicorn were created with a single design, stitched over and over, the skulls use around 500 lace flowers each. The gold ones are created with metallic thread and the blue, white thread that is painted after the skull is complete.

The shapes below come with the Artful Embroidery collection. There is also Signature Series 5, which dives deep into collage embrodiery and show how to create a wall hanging using the gypsy technique. The product links are shown below.

In conclusion, I hope my journey illustrates the boundless possibilities that emerge when we dare to experiment and repurpose what might otherwise be discarded materials. The Gypsy Pieces serve as a testament to the beauty of creative recycling; they remind us that inspiration often lies hidden in our leftover scraps. Embrace your remnants, explore the unexpected, and you may just find that amazing results await when you look at them with fresh eyes.

Stephen WIlson