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 Tell
us a bit about your background -- what led you into art and embroidery?
My mom was a painter and quilter, so I grew up with art all around me,
and I have always kept sketchbooks -- but I came to stitching late. I’d
been in fashion, and published zines, but was searching for my “thing”
for a long time.
In about 2004, I was struggling with a project because I couldn’t get
the image to look dimensional enough. My husband casually remarked: Why
don’t you try embroidery, that’s dimensional, right? My visual language
was born right then, and I’ve never looked back!
 Tell
us a bit about your design and the project behind it.
The Mandrake was the first mixed media + stitched piece I did (in about
2005). I’ve always loved botanicals and was looking for something to do
on that theme. As I began dreaming ways to showcase my two loves (paint
and stitch) I knew a male/botanical hybrid would be perfect. As he
“grew,” he led me to creating the exhibit that surrounds him: Sinister
Stitch - 13 ancient poisons in mixed media embroidery, which of course
led me to create his companion, the WoMandrake. She is 4 feet tall and
getting ALL tricked out to compliment him.
My documentary
project, The Sinister Stitch Chronicles, is currently running on my
YouTube channel and follows their story. I’ll continue filming
and releasing the Chronicles episodes through 2012.
 What
made you choose embroidery as the medium to share this project?
I like to say that I “speak” thread -- from the colors and the textures,
to the possibilities of how it can be worked absolutely flat or crazy
dimensional. It COMPLETELY seduced me as soon as I picked up my first
how-to book in 2004.
From there, I never looked back.
 What’s
your studio/workspace like?
My studio is a dedicated bedroom that has such features as the Wall of
Thread and my floss books (1ftX2ft folios of floss sorted by color). I
have lots of table space, book cases, and my trusty barstool where I
perch to stitch. You can tour my studio and check out my tools in the
Chronicles episode #2 on FreedomOfStitchTube, as well as on my site
freedomofstitch.com by clicking the Studio tab.
Finally, if you were a thread color, what color would you be?
DMC 975.
If you’d like to check out more of Victoria’s work and keep up with
the Sinister Stitch Chronicles, visit her
YouTube channel to keep up with all the video happenings or check
out her website,
Freedom of Stitch,Where Art & Craft Meet Stitch!s
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