Welcome back to another edition of 5/5! Bread painting, Impressionistic embroideries, and "sad hamster" crochet awaits. Keep on scrolling for five creatively inspiring things and five ways for you to DIY.

ICYMI, this cross-stitch mural was the most clicked link in the last 5/5 email.

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✨ 5 creatively inspiring things

1️⃣ Is it cake? No! But it looks real. This is a sculptural embroidery by Heather Rios inspired by the classic confection. It comprises cotton yarn and fabric adorned with polymer clay icing and sprinkles.

2️⃣ More food art, but this one you can eat. An artist named Thug Loaf paints (mostly) album covers on loaves of bread and pasta. They are incredibly detailed and look like they were done in acrylic or gouache paint. But based on this article, it appears that they're edible; the cover art is black-activated charcoal and food-grade coloring. This one’s for the Swifties.

3️⃣ Sam Eldridge’s Impressionistic embroidery style lends itself perfectly to stitching her rendition of Van Gogh. Just check out this massive stitching of the legendary painter’s Roses (1890). If you’re looking to learn to stitch like Sam, download this magnolia embroidery pattern—complete with a thread painting guide. [Affiliate link]

4️⃣ Another beautiful embroidery! Similar to Sam’s as they both use the thread painting technique, this piece by Cecile Davidovici looks as though it really is in motion—that the wind is just whipping through the trees.

5️⃣ I love miniatures, which is one reason why I enjoy all of the small bits and bobs that adorn these embroidery hoops by Ann-marie Vella. They look like microscopic organisms.

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🪡 5 ways to DIY

1️⃣ Practice a bunch of embroidery stitches in this Schoolhouse Sampler by Dropcloth Sampler. You’ll have the opportunity to embroider some of the essential stitches—including the satin stitch and back stitch—and some fancier techniques such as the basket weave. [Affiliate link]

2️⃣ Speaking of embroidery stitches, here’s Arounna of bookhou demonstrating the beauty of a pistil stitch. (Arounna is my new book, Threads of Treasure!)

3️⃣ Have you seen the “sad hamster” meme on TikTok? Now is your chance to crochet it, thanks to this free pattern.

4️⃣ Orts after my own heart! If you work with yarn, here’s a DIY idea for how to leave no scraps behind.

5️⃣ This pair of otter embroidery patterns legitimately made me laugh out loud. [Affiliate link]

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​I announced last week that my book, Threads of Treasure: How to make, mend, and find meaning through thread, is now available for pre-order! While the book includes 13 artist profiles, it also has three DIY projects encouraging you to create. Here’s where to get your copy.

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Talk to you next week,

Sara Barnes Embroidery illustrator and writer

2206 17th Ave S, Seattle, WA 91844
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