Stitching with Evy Hawkins

Even though we had to travel almost 600 miles to met during Baby Lock’s Common Threads event this summer, I feel like today’s special guest could quickly become my local partner in crime.  Please give a warm welcome to Evy Hawkins from A Bit of Stitch.

Evy is a woman of many talents and tends to focus on the finer details. It’s these finer details that can turn any basic project into a work of art! On any average day you can find her sharing “Stitch Bits” on the blog, teaching classes on Craftsy, traveling to your local quilt shop and designing new patterns for her shop.  Her work includes embroidery, hand cut work, quilting, needle felting, and Sashiko.  Oh and did I mention her video library… you must check out the library! Seriously, her work is incredible!

It’s pretty clear that I am admittedly smitten with Evy’s work. From the minute she stood up and spoke about the Sashiko machine, I knew I was hooked on her style. It is almost as if each of her projects tell a story. Each time I spot one of her projects, I am drawn in by the details. I feel like I could stare at it for hours and notice something different with each passing glance.

Thank you Heather for inviting me to visit The Sewing Loft! It’s always awesome to spend time with people who understand my addiction to sewing. Yep, I’ll just go ahead and admit that I am addicted to putting pretties together with sharp pointy implements and I’ve never met a piece of fabric or a bit of yarn that I didn’t want to take home with me. (My husband can attest to that.)

Who inspired you to start stitching?

Evy: I had a dear relative who taught me how to sew at a very early age. Before that happy event, I was busy creating pretty stuff for my dolls with tin-foil, tape and paper. WOW was it ever wonderful to discover what needle and thread could do. From that day till now my life has been a series of work brought to life one stitch at a time!

 

Most of my day is consumed with creating embroidery designs for machine embroidery, sewing patterns and tutorials and other fun sewing stuff. Usually I get to work in my pajamas. (Pretty cool until the doorbell rings then I’m one of those ladies who open the door only enough to show my face which has a perplexed look as I try to remember if brushed my teeth and combed my hair!)

What is your favorite or most often used tool in the studio?

Evy: I’ve been honored to be the Baby Lock spokesperson for their new Sashiko machine. I love the look of hand sewing but not so much the time it takes to do it. Well, this machine just floats my boat because it actually creates a stitch that looks like a hand-done running stitch! How cool is that? I’ve discovered it’s not just for quilters either, as that sweet stitch can do so many pretty things.

Another Baby Lock machine I love is the Embellisher. It has no computer, no complicated dials and uses no thread. I can needle felt by hand, but boy is it faster to use a machine! Best of all it’s not just for wool. Margo Duke inspired me to try needle felting silk fabric. I call it constructive reconstruction – and also THERAPY as I get to smash bits of pretty together while creating something awesome!

Any additional fun facts?

Evy: Baby Lock has a sweet saying – “for the love of sewing” – and I think that about sums up why I do what I do. I just LOVE to sew. And I love our sewing community – such talented, kind, clever and creative people who are so willing to share their inspiration with me. Thank you all for being who you are!

 

Isn’t she the sweetest! I can’t wait until our next “stitch date” together. We are currently scanning our calendars to see when we can get together to play but until then, Evy has shared this Felted Fall Leaf project for us all to try.

 

A big Thank You to Evy Hawkins from A Bit of Stitch for spending the day You can keep up with Evy and her stitching adventures here:

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Stay tuned, we have another fun interview on the way! And ps- don’t forget to enter to win one of four amazing prize packages in our National Sewing Month Giveaway.

Hello! Are you new to The Sewing Loft?

If so, I’m glad you stopped by and hope that something has inspired you to keep your needle moving!  Don’t miss a single project and subscribe via email HERE! Bonus- free embroidery pattern with newsletter sign up.  Another great way to connect with me is via Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ or Follow my blog with Bloglovin.  I’m looking forward to getting to know you and creating together!