Embroidery is becoming an increasingly popular hobby these days, but some passionate embroiders are lucky enough to do it full-time. That happens to be the case with Jessica Long, who built an impressive Instagram following thanks to her nature-inspired embroidery creations.
Long fell in love with embroidery following the birth of her son. Embroidery allowed her to find peace through art and she came to enjoy the meditative and tactile experience of using needle and thread to create beautiful things.
Flora and fauna are an obvious inspiration in her work, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She wanted to be a natural science illustrator in her youth before she started working at a biotech lab. Embroidery helped her rediscover her passion for the natural world in a creative way.
“My doodles and paintings always heavily featured flora and fauna, and I never passed up an opportunity to visit a natural history museum or zoo. Thanks to life’s many surprises I have become a full-time hand embroidery instructor… and now I can draw (and then stitch) all of my favorite creatures!” writes Long on her official website.
In addition to stitching some of the most astonishing embroidery hoops that you’ll ever see, Long offers tutorials and kits to other people who want to go down the same path.
