Sorcha O’Raw is an embroidery artist from Dublin, Ireland.

How did you get into embroidery

I got into embroidery in my last year of school. I’d done a continuous line drawing of a prop skeleton, I loved the drawing and wanted to do something more with it. I loved making things with my hands and had recently been making kind-of 3D drawings out of wire but this was too complicated for that. I thought why not draw it out with thread? I was hooked after that.

Do you have a background in design?

I do! After school I did my Undergraduate degree in Textiles and Visual Culture. In the Textile part I learnt how to research and realise my ideas and in Visual Culture I got to work on my other love, art history and research.

What are some of your favourite stitches?

In goldwork my favourite technique is cutwork, it’s very satisfying. Every piece in my goldwork food collection has incorporated it somehow, usually in the lettering. Embroidery wise I usually do silk shading which is long and short stitch or split stitch.

Are there any stitches you’re keen on learning?

When I’m not doing goldwork I’ve been trying to improve my Tambour embroidery skills. Tambour uses a hooked needle to make a chain stitch and when mastered it’s much faster than regular embroidery. It’s also commonly used for beading which is where it gets really hard, the beads are added on the opposite side of where you’re working and it can be hard to see what you’re doing.

Where do you get your materials and threads from?

I source everything I can from stores in Dublin, I prefer to see things in person and to support local/brick and mortar stores. However goldwork is a pretty niche medium, all the supplies I get come from the dedicated goldwork online store GoldenHinde based in the UK. Goldenhinde have always been supportive and helpful on Instagram. I met Sarah who runs it at the Knit and Stitch show last year and she was a delight! It’s a pleasure to support them.

How do you start a new piece of work, what’s your design process?

It does take time for an idea to fully form in my head, it’ll rattle around in there for a while. I’ll play with different techniques and colours in my imagination before it comes pouring out in the form of a sketch with notes of how each section will be done. Then it’s time for material sourcing and colour palette building. Sometimes I also need to do samples if I’m not sure how something will look

Are you overwhelmed with designs and ideas or does it take time to find new embroideries to stitch?

I can do, and with such a time intensive medium it’s hard to decide what to do first! When that happens I’ll draw quick sketches to get everything out of my head, I worry I’ll forget ideas if I don’t.

Do you embroider for fun or is it a full time job? If not what’s your day job?

I do it for fun, I decided after I finished college that I didn’t want to rely on my art to make money, it changed my relationship with it too much. I decided I wanted to get involved in the organisational end of the creative world. I’m going back to do a Masters in Cultural Policy and Arts Management in September. Alongside that I work part time as the Tailor in the Levis Store in Dublin which I really enjoy.

How do you find using Instagram? Do you ever worry your work will be copied?

I love it! Because embroidery is not my full time job I don’t sweat too much about consistently posting or how many people see each post. I treat it like a public diary, I just share what I’m working on with people, I’ve found a great community of stitchers through Instagram. I worry about my work being posted and someone else claiming credit because it’s hard to find out about that stuff. My work is so process based I feel like even if someone did copy it it would come out very different, but maybe I’d feel differently if someone actually did copy my work.

Do you ever feel nervous or anxious your followers won’t like your work?

I mostly worry people will unfollow me when I haven’t posted in a while haha.

Do you ever feel pressured to post images that you know will get lots of likes instead of simply posting what you like?

I suppose I do, anything I’m working on and want to post that’s not goldwork gets a second thought. But at the end of the day if I’m proud of it and want to share it I usually do.

What do you love about embroidery?

I’ve always thought of it as a combination between painting and sculpture. I love image making but I also love working with my hands and embroidery to me is the combination of the two. I also love working in miniature and am very detail orientation which translates really well into embroidery.

Follow Sorcha on Instagram here.