RedGateStitchery

I’ve loved to cross stitch for more years than I can remember. I love the feel of linen, the pull of thread through fabric. I love watching a pattern bloom into being. There’s nothing I don’t love about stitching. What I don’t love is finishing.

In my studio there is a drawer full of completed cross stitch patterns that have yet to be turned into pillows, or framed for the wall, or sewn up into cute bags. When it comes to converting a piece of stitched linen into something useful, I’m at a loss. I’m terified of messing up something I spent months stitching. And also, I’m lazy.

That’s what inspired me to start playing around with materials that don’t have to be finished. My first thought was leather. I went to the Boy Scout store in our town, bought a leather bracelet kit, punched some holes, and started stitching. It was a complete revelation.

Not only did I love how easy it was – the second I was done stitching I wrapped the bracelet around my wrist and that was that, no fussy finishing – I absolutely adored the look of embroidery floss on leather. It was cross stitch with a bit of an edge.

From leather I branched out to other unconventional materials like bamboo and acrylic, and from there Red Gate Stitchery was born. My main focus is creating high-quality kits (no more Boy Scout supplies for me) so fellow stitchers can enjoy working on materials they’ve never experienced before for looks that are new and modern.

I do all my stitching and designing at the home I share with my husband and 7-year-old daughter in a small New England town. When I’m not stitching, I’m writing or cooking or blowing bubbles in the backyard.