Embroidery artist + author
Hi, I’m Kelly.
I fell in love with embroidery in my mid-20s and began designing early on, when I couldn’t find patterns for the things I wanted to embroider. I like fresh, clean designs stitched in beautiful colours. I also like embroidering more unusual things, like insects and jellyfish, keys and alphabets, books and snails.
I quickly realised there were others like me. Embroiderers who appreciate the stitches and techniques in traditional embroidery but want to stitch more modern designs in fresh colours. So I combined the skills I’d picked up working in media and publishing with my love for hand embroidery to turn my designs into patterns and make them available online for anyone, anywhere in the world to stitch.
I enjoy figuring out how to use different stitches to build up a design, rather than sticking with one or two and simply stitching over an outline. This is something I work into each of my patterns, to share the delight with other embroiderers and show that there’s so much more to embroidery than straight stitches.
In addition to creating patterns, I do editorial work for magazines and publishers around the world and have authored and contributed to various books. I've also put together two digital books that take you through this style of embroidery and show you how to do all the stitches.
I work from my home in George, nestled between the ocean and the Outeniqua Mountains in South Africa. And you’ll usually find me listening to podcasts, music or with the tennis on while stitching.
In the beginning, I was simply offering other modern embroiderers designs that they felt excited to stitch. Now, my aim is not only to come up with fresh and original designs but also to make it as interesting and easy as possible for you to enjoy doing embroidery, too. So if just one of my designs gets you to pick up a needle and thread and do some hand embroidery, then my work is done. And hopefully I’ve given you a good few hours of embroidering pleasure.
If you'd like to hear more from me, subscribe to my newsletter on www.fellenn.com.
