Craftivism: Black Lives Matter Embroidery

I'm very late blogging about this, but... 

Way back in the autumn of 2020 I was absolutely delighted when Miranda got in touch to ask if she could include my Black Lives Matter embroidery pattern in an article she was writing for Love Sewing magazine about craftivism. Of course I said yes!

It felt like a real privilege to have my work included in a piece like this, and it was a joy to get hold of a copy of the magazine that winter and see it in print.

 

Then I got another lovely surprise last spring, when a friend spotted the article had been reprinted in Crochet Now magazine. Obviously I had to go to my local newsagent to track down a copy of that one, too...

I remain incredibly proud of this pattern and the (small) impact it's had through people around the world stitching it and using it to raise funds for important causes. If any of my work deserved to be printed in a pair of magazines like this, it's definitely this piece!

Click here to read more about this pattern, and download it for yourself.

Black Lives Matter: Free Embroidery Pattern

Words are nothing without actions, but my loudest voice is through my crafting so I've stitched this: 

  
It's not much but it feels better than being silent. I know a lot of us use crafting to support and share what's important to us, so I hope people will find this pattern useful. 

Click here to download the Black Lives Matter pattern. 

The pattern is designed to fit in a 6 inch embroidery hoop. If you just want to stitch the central heart it will be framed nicely in a 5 inch hoop.

This pattern is for personal and fundraising use only. 

Feel free to share the pattern online and to print and distribute copies among your friends, students, local community, etc., but please don't sell the pattern in any form or claim my design as your own. 

You're very welcome to sell items you make with this design as long as 100% of the profit goes to the charity / civil rights organisation / etc. that you're raising funds for. 

If you download the pattern please consider donating to Black Lives Matter or another anti-racist organisation. If you can't afford to make a donation sign a petition, share resources online, diversify your social media feeds, and talk to your friends and family about how we can speak up and act to support Black people and fight racism in all its forms.

How I stitched my version: 

I stitched this pattern in a 7 inch hoop, using four out of the six strands from a skein of stranded black embroidery thread (floss).



I mainly used backstitch, sewing smaller stitches along the curves to create smooth lines.

I stitched three overlapping stitches for each star and two overlapping stitches for each X. 

I used French knots for the dots, winding my thread two, three, or four times around the needle to make different sizes (though honestly my French knots are so hit and miss they usually end up different sizes anyway!). I'd recommend sewing the French knots in the centre of the flowers before you sew the flower petals, to make the knots easier to stitch.

If you’re stitching on white or other pale fabric, adding an extra layer of white fabric, felt, or quilt wadding underneath your chosen fabric will help stop your dark travelling threads showing through from the back.