DESIGNER PROFILE
THE DESIGNER AND MAKER BEHIND FLORALS AND FLOSS, ALEX STRATKOTTER, IS HERE TO INSPIRE YOU TO TAKE ON YOUR NEXT EMBROIDERY ADVENTURE
Alex Stratkotter shares the journey behind her embroidery business, Florals and Floss
Florals and plants as far as the eye can see – that’s how we pictured Alex Stratkotter’s studio space, and we weren’t far off. Alex is the designer and maker behind Florals and Floss. As the name suggests, she specialises in modern floral stitching – and, most recently, embellishing garments with her gorgeous designs. “I’m currently writing a book about clothing embroidery, The Embroidered Closet,” she says. “It’s definitely a dream project! It’s a huge undertaking, but it’s been a joy to work on.”
Like many of us, Alex’s first encounter with the wonders of needlecraft has stayed with her since childhood. “My grandma was a master embroiderer,” says Alex. “Growing up, I loved the beautiful hand-stitched pillows and linens she adorned her home with.” However, it wasn’t until four years ago, when Alex’s son was two, that she first decided to try embroidery for herself. “I had previously been an oil painter,” she says, “but I wasn’t finding the time to paint with a young child. So, I bought a kit from a small embroidery shop and fell in love with the textures and how easy it was to pick up and put down!”
Alex quickly realised that custom embroidery hoops made thoughtful (and inexpensive) gifts for friends. “It didn’t take long before gift hoops became requests,” she says. “So, I started charging for custom hoops and creating my own designs. One thing led to another and now I have Florals and Floss.” At first, Alex was mostly stitching commission-based designs. Although she enjoyed these, she found herself wanting to create designs that were completely her own. “I started stitching just for me, in the hopes that people may buy them anyway,” she says. “At first, I played around with different subject matters like word-based hoops, a few abstract pieces, mixed media and also a few different styles of stitching.”
That early experimentation is something Alex found vital in order to develop her own designing style. “I soon learned what subject matter I enjoyed stitching but could also sell.” She quickly gained traction on Instagram and her followers began asking her for patterns. “I started turning some of my designs into patterns and kits,” says Alex. “As my shop and family have grown, I now mostly focus on patterns, kits and teaching (pre-Covid).”
Not long into her embroidery journey, Alex began branching out beyond hoops, turning her wardrobe – and her family’s – into her canvases. “Stitching on clothing started quite organically, like the rest of my embroidery adventures,” she says. “I stitched some mushrooms onto my kid’s shirt, and he was so excited to wear it that he wouldn’t wait for me to wash the stabiliser off!”
At the time Alex began experimenting with embroidering on different garments – sweaters being a firm favourite – her Instagram followers showed a keen interest in her finished pieces. “There aren’t a lot of tutorials or information online when it comes to hand embroidering onto clothing,” says Alex. “So, I started
“Stitching on clothing started organically – like the rest of my embroidery adventures. I stitched onto my kid’s shirt!”
teaching clothing workshops and designed a line of patterns specifically for clothing. I love teaching and can’t wait to get back to it when the world returns to normal.”
Although the last year has seen a lot of change, Alex is used to adapting her business around life’s events. “When my daughter was born a year and a half ago, I decided to give up my studio space so she could have a bedroom,” she says. So, Alex packed up her studio and moved into the basement. “I wanted to make it as cosy and inviting as possible,” she says. “I brought in house plants and grow lights to give my new studio some life, and my décor and storage have as much colour and texture as possible.”
Due to her basement-turned-studio being on the smaller side, Alex has had to make the most of her space. “I need a lot of storage, which means the wall is taken up by shelving,” she explains, “but the wall space I do have is packed with art. Sometimes, I’m in my studio for six hours a day so I want to be surrounded by colour and light and inspiring images!” Alex admits that if she only had space for one thing in her studio it would “either be my large worktable or my house plants” – a choice we can relate to.
Seeing her designs find their way out of her basement studio and into other people’s hoops and frames is something Alex is still getting used to. “It feels amazing, honestly! It’s so cool that people all over the world have stitched something I’ve designed,” she says. “And many of them have gone on to start their own embroidery businesses. I’ve received a lot of messages from people saying that embroidery has been a stress-relieving practice over the last year. It’s truly an honour!”
Looking ahead, Alex is excited to get back to teaching and – in between classes, parenting and running an embroidery business – finish her first book. After that though, “I would like to collab with an embroidery floss company to create some new colours,” she adds. “There are lots of great floss options out there, but you can never have enough colour choices.” We for one are in full support of this thread-based endeavour and can’t wait to see what the year brings for Florals and Floss!
Find out more about Alex’s designs and classes on Instagram @floralsandflossembroidery or at www.floralsandfloss.etsy.com