Why this shop exists

Machine embroidery is my passion. I love the whole process: choosing the design, setting up the hoop, and watching a shape build up stitch by stitch until it is finished.

For a long time I looked for a particular kind of design and kept not finding it: symbols from different cultures, scripts and religious traditions, with the shape drawn right, digitised so the file actually stitches well, and sold with honest information about the symbol behind it. What I found was usually a quick trace with the shape slightly wrong, or a file with not a word about what the symbol is. So I decided to build the shop I had been looking for.

I also have a deep, long-standing interest in the study of religions and of cultural symbols in general: how different peoples write, mark and picture what matters to them. That interest shapes every page here. Each symbol comes with its name, where it comes from, what it is traditionally taken to mean, and the sources that say so, listed so you can check them yourself.

How the files are made

Every embroidery design on sale has been stitched on my own machine first. The numbers on each page (stitch count, trims, size, runtime) are read from the file you download, not estimated. I would rather publish a symbol slowly and get the shape and the information right than publish it fast and get it wrong.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading past the product page.