Welcome to Stitch Studio, thanks for dropping by! I’m Kirsteen and I work from my home in Nottingham, UK. I hand cut and hand sew cute animals, brooches and pictures, using 100% wool felt in all my pieces.
I love animals, I love making and I adore making animals! At Stitch Studio I get to do just that. I have to admit it’s mainly the soft cuddly ones and I love to make my felt animals as cute as possible.
I love working with felt because of it’s versatility and sculptural possibilities. I hand cut and hand sew everything from 100% wool felt. Forming an animal out of felt and seeing it take shape is so exciting and each one I make is a whole new personality.
I studied Fine Art Sculpture at University, working mostly with fabric and embroidery, but my career took me down a different path. It wasn't until I became a stay at home mum that I found the time and inspiration to make and create things again. Making and creating is so thrilling and nothing beats the feeling when a customer is overjoyed with something I’ve made for them.
I take inspiration from my childhood memories, my memories of cartoon animals, toys I had and hand-me-downs. Also the patterns and colour combinations from my home made dresses and cardigans, they are so comfortingly nostalgic and familiar. My crafty mum and a love for Fuzzy Felt (the Fuzzy Felt Factory was in the town where I grew up) are strong influences.
I create animals in a distinct style, they are soft sculptures but they don’t have the uber realism of needlefelting. Instead they have a retro style, a wink to my childhood, and a baby animal cuteness - big heads and eyes. They have the distinct characteristics of the animal, a likeness, but they are not literal.
I began selling my creations on Etsy in 2017. You can request a custom made item here but all my ready to post cuties are available on my Etsy or Folksy shops.
You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook. Get in touch, I'd love to hear from you [email protected]