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Eye of the Needle: Artist embroiders stunning textile illustrations of the human eye

In her ongoing series of stitched illustration and textile art, Sam P Gibson painstakingly hand-embroiders the most stunning threaded eyes, so they look as though they have been drawn onto a sheet of paper instead of created with a needle and thread.

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Detailed hand-embroidered eye with black thread on light blue fabric mounted in a wooden hoop, showing intricate stitching of the iris, pupil and surrounding lashes

"My stitched illustrations are developed from a desire to move away from regular embroidery and explore other subject matter within this medium," Sam explains. "I had been taught to sew as a child and had continued to enjoy the labour intensive aspect of hand embroidery but wanted to move my work into a more drawing based direction."

Inspired mainly by the human eye, Sam loves to bring out every tiny detail of our eyelashes, pupils and irises by first creating pencil illustrations before embroidering over them using black thread on a heavy weave cream cotton, ready to hang and enjoy in your home.

Sam has been commissioned to make many pieces that have been sold all over the world. She sells her fine threaded artworks via her Etsy shop, so you can get your hands on one of her creations for yourself.

Detailed hand-embroidered eye in black thread on cream cotton stretched in a wooden hoop, showing intricate stitching of the iris, pupil and surrounding eyelashes
Black embroidered eye with detailed lashes and iris on cream fabric, mounted in a wooden hoop with brass fastening
Detailed hand-embroidered eye with black thread on cream cotton stretched in a wooden hoop, featuring intricate stitching of the iris, pupil and eyelashes
Close-up of black embroidered eye with detailed radiating stitches creating texture in the iris and surrounding linework on cream cotton fabric
Black embroidered eye with detailed iris, pupil and eyelashes stitched on cream linen in a wooden hoop by Sam P Gibson
Hand-embroidered illustration of a human eye in black thread on cream cotton stretched in a wooden hoop, with detailed rendering of the iris, pupil and eyelashes
Detailed hand-embroidered eye with radiating iris lines in black thread on light blue fabric, mounted in a wooden hoop
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