The Tiny Embroidered Animals of Chloe Giordano

With a following of some 260,000 people on Instagram, you can say that Chloe Giordano is an embroidery superstar. Known for her miniature embroidered animals, her work is very much inspired by the natural world, and has a whimsicality to it that attracts fans from all age groups.

Originally from Buckinghamshire, and currently based in York, Giordano took to sewing during the last year of her illustration degree at the University of the West of England.

“I studied Illustration at the University of the West of England, and for most of my degree I worked in pencil or oil paints and took a very formal approach to learning things,” she recalled in an interview with Textile Artist.

“When I began sewing during my last year this all went out the window and I began to learn mostly trial and error as I didn’t have a background in sewing or textiles.”

Since graduating in 2011, Giordano has continued to experiment with freehand embroidery, using sewing thread and hand-dyed fabrics to create her delicate pieces.

Working on unbleached calico that she dyes by hand and single strands of sewing thread (either cotton or polyester), her designs are first drawn onto the fabric with a vanishing fabric marker.

Her advice for other aspiring artists? “Don’t assume you can’t do something. I always had very prescriptive ideas of what I was capable of as an artist, but when I began working with textiles I realized it’s possible to teach yourself to do just about anything you’d like to try.”