Hand-embroidery is a patient practice. You have to respect time. You have to learn and invent gestures that you repeat, over and over and over, until patterns and images emerge.
I have a deep love for the last-call shirts on the 99-cent rack, the half-completed needlepoints, the swag caps, the remnants, the fragments, the orphaned furniture and the discarded napkins.
We don't have to settle for the generic mass-produced goods that are marketed to us. There is power in the unique transformation of ordinary objects.
![Mary and Paula in up-cycled shirts](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/aa89db55-e28b-44e6-ad7f-a940abf01a0b_rw_1920.jpg?h=22e617f288c0099613ccd4e6de90cc08)
Mary and Paula in up-cycled shirts
![Paula in up cycled shirts](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf3.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/e126d4df-2af3-4457-8e54-949f1a56af65_rw_1920.jpg?h=1af18bdd0822b0a9a1159581a14f38ef)
Paula in up cycled shirts
![Up-cycled shirt](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/ac552b63-c939-4f2f-898c-8c704a2d01ad_rw_1920.jpg?h=6c3c1f9a89ef5317fa9b7c8291147b06)
Up-cycled shirt
![Up-cycled shirt detail](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/0fc216da-a8c8-4f82-9777-9f833f8d0833_rw_1200.jpg?h=7cefe2039240e6e527c694f10808ccc1)
Up-cycled shirt detail
![Peasant shirt](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf5.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/6ae1bcda-b37b-40af-9c1d-d6809c383314_rw_1200.jpg?h=c144527d0a98187b160d204f9e6cdfd6)
Peasant shirt
![The Doe Cap](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/af961542-71d8-433a-b323-86fd1ccddf8c_rw_1200.jpg?h=706ff1d7627c073af97e036c1c3338e5)
The Doe Cap
![Reader Jacket front](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf4.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/5c8bc47b-1244-4d8f-820a-332da0c0d943_rw_1200.jpg?h=9c0ff9f75feac7ab65a6d476d3fc0a9b)
Reader Jacket front
![Reader Jacket Back](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf1.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/c89a835b-18ee-4942-a904-03165d676d6c_rw_1200.jpg?h=b2c845e4b470c132ae0cdaf8d31b43ea)
Reader Jacket Back
![Orange Crush cap](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/b2016173-8b62-4a96-8f96-1191ac832427_rw_1920.jpg?h=45c152ce5321b11978f13b37aba2f584)
Orange Crush cap
![Together Chore Jacket](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf1.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/c9ca4d3c-5c86-4ad7-925a-17a393368c63_rw_1920.jpg?h=b8dbbfe5438518a8129e01ba49f183c5)
Together Chore Jacket
![Bird Chair](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf1.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/92df04ce-8197-4dbe-9d08-156ce219f4f9_rw_1200.jpg?h=5c5ed74636fbc4cb5c356c73eb55cd43)
Bird Chair
![Bird Chair detail](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/b3bee522-a97d-4a27-a09c-f05f149aea38_rw_1920.jpg?h=490068a64d89ac488097938076f4c54f)
Bird Chair detail
![Grieving Cap](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf4.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/f8d6cf9a-22c5-49f7-aa4f-e9b3d8806a6f_rw_1200.jpg?h=fc1b4ee33b5cc8fe0b6f65ad8467eba6)
Grieving Cap
![Chair cover - Bear](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf2.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/3441082b-8752-418a-b918-f5b4878bc4b8_rw_1200.jpg?h=4cb6ce7fb32c29b9f92bba52539a138e)
Chair cover - Bear
![DC Swag Cap](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf2.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/df36d7a6-1881-440d-95de-975034401b5e_rw_1200.jpg?h=0a1884c6d3a5718705d02421220ae789)
DC Swag Cap
![Chair Cover - Hare](https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf3.myportfolio.com/5f545b39-e509-4b39-bed0-5750261bbdda/4214ed4b-37d1-4033-8db1-7a8ad523b8a4_rw_1920.jpg?h=06641a4b0cfb0a0f3da96c827bba4d2a)