Drawing with Stitch

Even though animating with stitch is practically unheard of, drawing with stitch is nothing new. Cross-stitch, tapestry art, embroidery etc have always been ways of depicting images in textiles, rather than printing onto the surface of the fabric. (Bayeux Tapestry below)

More modern examples of artists using stitch in their work are Tracey Emin...

Artist, Caroline Schofield, who used it in her residency at Kilkenny Arts Office, in particular to depict one man called Christy, whom she drew in pencil and then rendered in stitch later.

I have also used stitch to draw in the past and found it rather freeing. It makes such beautiful, delicate illustrations as well, because it limits you and makes you more selective. It's very much like the old art foundation technique to loosen you up, continuous line drawing, but with added texture and unpredicatablity. Maybe it's the unpredictable nature of drawing with a sewing machine that has caused the only stitched animation I can find to be digitally embroidered, thereby avoiding that pitfall. I quite like the idea of a looser style though.