Introduction to Stitched Fiber Art with Heather Kerley
Class | Registration opens 11/19/2025 12:00 AM EST
Students will gain all the basic skills needed to create their own original stitched fiber art. Students will learn about basic supplies, materials, and tools used in surface design embroidery, quilting, and mixed media fiber collage. To begin, students will create a design based on a line drawing they provide and start stitching, gradually working their way up from the simplest stitches to more challenging ones. Students will play with creating improvisational designs as they grow more comfortable with stitching. As students become more comfortable with hand stitching, the class will introduce other fiber practices such as fiber collage, creative stitching with a sewing machine, and introducing mixed media approaches. Students will learn about American fiber art traditions and are encouraged to do further research into movements and traditions that interest them, such as Boro and Kantha.
Your instructor has provided a list of materials required to participate fully in this class.
If you have any questions about specifics or what is needed week-to-week, please reach out to your instructor via the email in your confirmation letter.
- Embroidery Hoop Sized 6”
- Assorted embroidery needles size 3-9
- Assorted embroidery floss
- Floss Bobbins
- Sewing thread such as Guterman cotton thread
- Fabric scissors
- Small embroidery scissors
- Seam ripper
- Water erasable fabric pen
- Tracing paper (for image transferring)
- Masking tape
- Black felt-tip pen
Shopping for Fabric:
You will need approx. ½ yard of natural fabric in light colors (Linen, quilting cotton, muslin, etc. Keep in mind that Aida and canvas fabrics for embroidery are meant for cross stitch and not the type of embroidery we will be focusing on). Some sources for fabric include independent sellers on Etsy, snugglymonkey.com (for fabric and all embroidery supplies), and fabricwholesaledirect.com
You will also need fabric scraps (Fabric scraps can be upcycled from old clothing or borrowed from someone’s stash). Scrap bundles can also be purchased on Etsy or Ebay. There are growing resources for artists looking for upcycled/secondhand fabric:
Optional:
- Tapestry wool such as Appleton’s 2-ply thread (https://hmnabavian.com/)
- Yarn, beads, buttons, ribbons, natural elements you may want to experiment with (small shells, twigs, etc.)
- Stamps with fabric ink pads
- fabric paint
- Any other threads or flosses you would like to try
- Sketchbook for taking notes and sketching ideas