Blending Embroidery into Your Crochet Projects | Podcast Episode #132

This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclosure Policy for more information.

Did you know you can use crochet as the foundation for embroidery?

On their own, crochet and embroidery are amazing crafts, each with a flair that makes them unique. But together, it’s a gorgeous combination. I was blown away when I learned about Andy from O&Y Studio, a talented maker in this community who blends her crochet and embroidery skills as well as her love of flowers into one gorgeous and unique project.

Special Guest

Whether you know how to embroider or not, in this episode of The BHooked Podcast you’re sure to be inspired by Andy. She tells us how it’s possible for anyone to embroider on crochet as well as a few tips to get you started. I learned so much from her. I know you will too!

Episode Transcript

Brittany: 0:00
Thank you so much for joining me in episode 132 of the B.Hooked Podcast—the place where we love yarn, we love to learn, and we truly believe yarn can do more for us than just make pretty things. Now we tend to focus on crochet and a little bit of knitting here on the podcast, but I always love bringing in a guest who has a completely unique perspective. A way that they use one of these crafts—knitting or crochet—and maybe they mix it with something else. Or maybe they just have the same medium, but use it in a different way.

I’m super excited about today’s episode because it’s completely unique to anything we’ve had before. Embroidery has always had a small place in my life, but it’s never been something I’ve actually been able to do. My grandmother was really big into embroidery—she embroidered these beautiful pillowcases—and I just remember having them as a kid, with all those gorgeous flowers stitched on them. I have a lot of great memories associated with embroidery. But for whatever reason, I just haven’t invested the time to learn this skill.

So when I learned about Andy from O&Y Studio and saw that she blends embroidery with crochet, my mind was blown. I knew I had to have her on the show to see where that inspiration came from, and to learn a little bit about embroidery—maybe even enough to try it myself and add something unique to one of the crochet projects I’ve already made.

If you crochet and you also embroider, you’ve got to get connected with Andy. She’s so much fun, and I think the two of you would have a lot in common because she really loves both. But if you don’t embroider and you do crochet, what I’ve learned from Andy today is that you don’t really have to know a lot about embroidery to start blending the two crafts. So what I wanted to do is give you the basics—just spark the idea that, hey, these two things go together, and they look amazing when they do.

We’re talking all about that today with Andy from O&Y Studio. I’ll have all her info linked in the show notes for this episode, which is behooked.com/132. You’ll definitely want to connect with her after hearing this. If nothing else, just to see what she’s talking about—her pieces are absolutely gorgeous and so inspiring.

All right, I don’t want to delay anymore. I’m really excited about this one—as you can probably tell—so here’s my chat with Andy from O&Y Studio.

Brittany: 3:55
Andy, hi! Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here today.

Andy: 4:00
Hi, Brittany! This is so much fun. I’ve been looking forward to this.

Brittany: 4:03
I have been looking forward to it as well! When I first found you on Instagram, I was just baffled by the things that you create. And I—great, great.

Andy: 4:19
I’m here to tell you about it.

Brittany: 4:21
Well, I will wear you out, I’m sure, with all kinds of questions. I know absolutely nothing about embroidery. My grandmother did it—she’s passed now—but at the time when I was able to spend time with her, I was too young to really be interested in any of that stuff. And I really wish that I were. So now I just have some of the embroidery pieces she made, and I associate that with her. I think it would be so cool to blend something that was really important to her with something that’s really important to me.

Andy: 5:00
Who knows? We’ll have to get you started on some embroidery.

Brittany: 5:03
Yeah, for sure! Before we get to any of that, though, I’d love to know a little more about you and how the order of all of this happened. When did you first start blending embroidery with crochet? What gave you the idea?

Andy: 5:20
Well, it was in 2016. My daughter had been coaxing me to start an Etsy shop, and I started getting excited about the idea. But I was so across the board about what I could make. I’ve been a smocker—which is English smocking—and I owned a shop that sold needle arts-related materials. Smocking had been a big part of my life for many years, and of course, that incorporates embroidery.

For someone who doesn’t know what that is, smocking is pleated fabric with decorative stitches over the top. So I kept thinking I needed to do smocking for my shop. But it’s such a time-consuming product, and I was thinking, “How do you know what sizes people will want?” I was a little confused about what I should do.

My daughter was great—she kept showing me things: “Mom, look at this. Mom, look at that. You could do this or that.” So I started trying different things. Eventually, I started doing embroidery with DMC thread on fabric. I was making some pieces, but I just wasn’t excited about doing that as a business.

One day, I was brainstorming in my sewing studio and looking over at my colorful walls of yarn. I went over and picked some up and thought, “What can I do with these?” Around that same time, I had just found a bunch of hoops at an antique shop—vintage hoops—and I crocheted a background, just a crochet circle. I tried to put it into the hoop, but it was too thick. I couldn’t get it centered, and I didn’t want it to hang way over the back. It needed to be just the right size. I thought, “This is not going to work.”

But then I thought, “Wait a minute. What if I make it smaller and whip stitch it into the inner hoop?” So I tried another one—and it worked! I had a background. Then I got all excited and started stitching some flowers on it. That’s how it all began. I had two or three finished and showed my daughter. She said, “That’s what you need to do. Make ten of them and we’ll get your shop open.” So that all came together toward the end of 2016.

Brittany: 8:23
Oh, so cool. So it was sort of a happy accident!

Andy: 8:26
It was!

Brittany: 8:27
Yeah, I have tried to do that myself. I recently created a wall hanging because I had this bare spot on my studio wall. I thought, “I need to hang some yarn there,” but I didn’t have the effort or energy to weave something. That’s really what I wanted to do, but I don’t know how and don’t have the tools for it.

So I thought, “Well, I can crochet something.” I started crocheting something completely different than what I ended up using. It just didn’t work out. It was a chevron-style piece—the downward peak of a chevron stitch—but because it wasn’t solid at the top, it sagged. It didn’t hang right. I had put in all this time, completely finished the project, but I knew if I let it hang on the wall, it would sag more and more and I’d end up hating it. I didn’t want to publish a pattern someone else would hate either.

So I thought, “I need something quicker and easier.” I had an embroidery hoop in my closet that I bought, gosh, probably three or four years ago because I wanted to use it as a frame for crochet. But I ran into the same problem you did—I thought I could crochet a circle and put it in the hoop. But it was too thick, and I gave up on it.

Later, I used the hoop by crocheting around the entire thing. I just used it as the frame for a circular wall hanging, and that was a lot of fun. But when I saw your stuff, I thought, “Wow, she’s got this figured out and it looks so cool.” I wish I had put a little more effort into figuring out how to actually put the crochet in the hoop.

Andy: 10:29
Yeah, so you’re right—it was a happy accident. And it took me a little while to get the stitches even. I usually stitch through every other single crochet and run my thread through those stitches all the way around. That spaces out the threads that hold the crochet in place.

The outer hoop isn’t really necessary. I just put it on because it’s part of the hoop, but it’s not holding any tension. The stitching is what holds it taut inside the frame.

Brittany: 11:14
Yeah. It probably just gives it a nice finished look on the outside, which I would love because I’m a little bit of a perfectionist. A whip stitch that’s not perfectly even would probably drive me crazy.

Andy: 11:29
(Laughs) Right? But then with the outer hoop there, you also get the little hook at the top for hanging, so that works out nicely too.

Brittany: 11:36
Yeah! So nowadays, you said you’re still making these—it’s a few years later and now you have your Etsy shop. Did you open it after you realized this was what you wanted to make? Or had you already started the shop and were just experimenting with what to sell?

Andy: 11:59
No, I started the shop when I had ten items to list. That was the first of November 2016. And that same day, the day my shop went live, I sold a hoop. I couldn’t believe it.

Brittany: 12:16
That’s amazing! I wonder how that person found you. It’s so hard to be found in Etsy’s algorithm, especially nowadays—three years later, it’s even harder.

Andy: 12:33
Yeah, I don’t know how they found me. Then I got very busy making Christmas ornaments, and I put some of those in my shop too. They did quite well. It blew my socks off that I had such a good little two months right at the end of the year. I just caught the wave.

Brittany: 12:56
Wow, that’s really cool. Now, I’ve known your shop name for a little while now, but you just told me the story behind it. What is that? It’s so clever—I love it.

Andy: 13:08
So it’s O&Y Studio, with an ampersand. But the name is actually meant to read “Oh Andy!” That came from when I would make things throughout my life—baked goods, flower arrangements, smocked dresses—people would always say, “Oh, Andy, this is beautiful.” My son picked up on that and started teasing me about it. So it became a little family joke: “Oh, Andy!” That’s what we named my shop—Oh Andy Studio.

Brittany: 13:46
I love it. And it’s funny—while you were telling that story, I looked at my notes here and I had actually typed out “O and Y Studio” instead of using the ampersand. So I saw it written out as “Oh Andy” and it just clicked. That’s so clever! And I think it’s a fun story for people to hear.

Your Etsy shop is gorgeous—the things you have in there. I’m just completely fascinated with how you incorporate these two different needle arts into one really amazing piece. The downside of an audio podcast is that listeners can’t see what we’re talking about, so I’ll definitely link to your shop in the show notes.

But in your own words, can you describe exactly what you create? I know we’ve kind of danced around it, but are they all wall hangings? Or do you make things with other uses too? Help people get a visual.

Andy: 15:08
Basically, my work is an embroidery hoop with a circle of crochet mounted inside it. Then I embroider—usually flowers—onto the crochet. I’ve done leaves too, like monstera leaves, and some smaller pieces like Christmas ornaments. I’ve also done animals. But flowers are definitely my big love.

I use wool to embroider them, so they’re very textural. I have a lovely collection of handspun and hand-dyed wools, painted wools—all kinds of colors. Sometimes the color changes completely surprise me. They add depth, texture, and really elevate what I thought the piece would look like.

So essentially, they’re flower scenes or other botanical elements, and they’re meant to be wall art. They look lovely in a collection, on a gallery wall with photos or plates or plants. You could also put one in an easel, though you’d need to back it with cardboard so the easel doesn’t push through the crochet. Or you can just prop them on a shelf.

I also do some driftwood hangings—I think I only have two in the shop right now—where I use driftwood from the South Carolina beaches and add a fringe to the bottom of the crochet. I’ve done leaves on those, and also mushrooms and toadstools. I forgot about those! So, yeah, that’s what I create.

Brittany: 17:07
Yeah, it totally does. That gives us a good visual as we kind of can see the spectrum of what you can create with something like this. It’s not just maybe one thing in particular. If you learn about the idea, you can sort of run with it. And most of the listeners here are crocheters. Some of us knit and crochet as well. But, you know, we might not necessarily be looking to make the exact thing—just having the aha moment that, oh, you actually can embroider on crochet.

So how can I use that in a way for my own personal style? Like, let’s say I love to crochet bags or totes and I want to embroider my name on it—then that’s something that they can see. Absolutely, they can see the idea.

Yeah, so let’s talk about how the process works. I’m sure the creative process is probably similar to what we would follow for just a crochet project or just a knitting project, but I like to get everybody’s unique design process because it’s always a little bit different. So how does one of your pieces start? I’m guessing it probably starts with crochet and an embroidery hoop, but let’s kind of elaborate from there.

Andy: 18:25
Yeah, so if I’m going to make a certain embroidery hoop, I would have the hoop in front of me and then I start with a magic circle. Then I do rounds of crochet, but I typically don’t do a spiral. I typically end a row and then start the next row so that I can sort of keep it even. Otherwise, sometimes I’ve ended up with it a little lopsided.

I think it’s because I can’t figure out where I started, so I try to do that. And then I stop when I’m about a half an inch shy of the inner hoop. That gives me the half inch to stretch it and gives it the tautness that I need for embroidering—so that it’s not loose underneath what you’re trying to sew.

Although, if you were doing a bag—and definitely when I’m doing the driftwood hangings—you don’t have it pulled into a hoop. So you certainly can still embroider; you just have to be careful not to pull too tight so that you crimp the fabric underneath.

Brittany: 19:41
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Do you always use the same stitch or do you play with different stitches to make a different textured background?

Andy: 19:51
I would say most of the time I just do single crochet. I have done some trebles on the last row just to add a little bit of a lacy filigree edge. I did that in a recent series. Then I actually embroidered over some of those holes. So they were there for part of the circle, but the rest of the circle was kind of embroidered over a little bit—just like a petal over or something.

It had a nice effect. I quite liked how that was. So I do need to experiment some more with that.

Brittany: 20:30
Yeah, I was sitting here thinking about it. The stitch structure is so different from a single crochet to a double crochet. It makes me think that maybe some stitches aren’t suitable for embroidery.

Now, like I said, I know nothing about embroidery, but I feel like you have to have maybe a consistent structure—where you don’t have really big holes. Like, think about the air space in between your two double crochets—it’s a lot bigger than the air space between two single crochets. So I’m sure that comes into play.

Andy: 21:00
Yeah, it is helpful. That’s why I use single crochet almost exclusively—just because it gives me an even background.

However, I do also crochet jewelry wire, and I’ve mounted that into hoops before and then embroidered on that. So it has a see-through kind of look, and it looks like the embroidery is standing out from the wall.

I use different colors of different metals. I use brass, or bronze, and antique copper and copper. Depending on your wall color, it could show through nicely. And then you just sort of have the flowers floating in the hoop there.

Brittany: 21:54
I bet that looks really cool. I’m going to have to stalk your Instagram page for one of those.

Andy:
If you’re wanting to do that, try the wool background first because the wire has a lot of air space, as you say, and there’s not always a place where you need to put your needle. You have to kind of get creative or plan it out a little bit.

Brittany: 22:17
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of people crochet with that jewelry wire before. I’ve never tried it myself because—well, for one, I don’t know about how it will wear on the hooks. You would think that metal rubbing on metal could potentially scratch the hook.

But it also seems like it’s kind of difficult—really, maybe not so fun. What was your experience crocheting with it? Do you like it, or is it just that you like the result, but maybe not really the process?

Andy: 22:47
I don’t love crocheting with it at all. I have to do a lot more rows because it just is finer.

Brittany: 22:53
Yeah.

Andy: 22:53
And if I stretch it too much, then it gets too holey.

Brittany: 22:56
Oh, and it stays that way?

Andy: 22:57
Yeah. But yeah, you have to be careful. It could cut through your fingers if you held it too tight in your non-hook hand. So you have to kind of be careful.

Brittany: 23:17
Yeah. Okay. Well, good tips there. I probably won’t try it anytime soon. I’ll still admire other people’s work for doing that, but I probably will steer clear.

Now, once you have your crochet framework there, you’ve got it mounted on your hoop—this is the part that I am just full of questions, I think—when it comes to adding the embroidery.

So I imagine you probably start with some kind of idea first. Are you pulling inspiration from your mind? Do you have a collection of flowers or different shapes that you like to create? Or do you sketch it out? Or how does that part look?

Andy: 24:01
Well, in the beginning, I did used to sketch it out. But now I’ve done so many that I just kind of wing it—with an idea.

Usually, I have a color for the main flowers in mind—something that’ll show up nicely on the background. And then I have to decide what my main flower is going to be.

I’m quite a proficient embroiderer, so I know a lot of stitches. But probably for the most part, I just use a straight stitch, which anybody can do—even if you don’t know how to embroider.

All you need is a tapestry needle with a big eye and a blunt end. You don’t knot your thread to start—you would run it underneath where you’re going to make a petal, for instance. So if it does come through on the right side, you’ll hide it with your stitches.

Then for the most part, those flowers are just a straight stitch with a central place. You find kind of a hole in your crochet, and then just go out like spokes of a wheel. You can group three or four of those spokes together, then leave a little gap, and then three or four more. Keep going around until you’ve got five or six petals.

Or you could just make a spoke flower—there really are some in life that are like that.

And if you don’t know how to do French knots or other embroidery stitches, don’t feel like you have to. You can use beads, for instance, for the center of a flower and get a lovely textured center.

But certainly, if you are interested in embroidery, I would recommend looking on YouTube for basic embroidery stitches and just teaching yourself some of those.

Brittany: 26:09
Yeah, I think that’s a really good tip. I mean, gosh, I totally live by YouTube when it comes to learning new skills. That’s the first place that I go, especially for something where it’s a visual kind of skill. I’ve just learned that I’m not really one to learn easily from books and pictures, so I don’t even attempt that anymore. I always end up going to YouTube.

Andy: 26:35
Yeah, it’s—

Brittany: 26:36
—a great resource. What would you say are the basic four or five embroidery stitches that might be good to know, just to sort of get your feet wet?

Andy: 26:47
Okay, I would say a stem stitch or an outline stitch—those are almost identical. That’s what you would use for stems, as the name suggests, or outlines of shapes. You can even use it for monogramming.

Then Lazy Daisy is a very good one. You come up in one place, make a loop, and go down, then come up at the point where you want the end of the loop to be, and anchor it down. It’s really simple. I actually learned it when I was a young child. If you make several of them around in a circle, you’ve got a little flower. Or they make great leaves.

A French knot would be another one, because you can do so many things with them. You come up with your thread, wrap your needle three or four times, hold the wraps on your needle, pull the needle through, and then push the wraps all the way down to the fabric. The key is to make sure they look the way you want when you push them down—so they don’t have a little stalk—and then you go back down through the fabric.

And then a chain stitch could be another one that’s very easy to learn.

Brittany: 28:29
Okay. I think that’s a really good starting point. Is this something you could learn in an afternoon? Like, say you wake up on Sunday and you’re like, “Man, I want to try something fun and different”—is this something you can just dive into for a few hours? Or is there more of a time investment in learning the stitches and getting the right tools?

Andy: 28:58
I don’t think so. I think what I would recommend is not starting on crochet. Instead, get a piece of linen or some kind of twill fabric, put it in a hoop, and use cotton threads just to begin with, along with an embroidery needle.

Always remember that the eye of your needle needs to accommodate the amount of thread you’re pulling through. So use different size needles depending on how many strands you’re using. For example, if you’re using all six strands of DMC thread, you’ll need a needle with a big enough eye. And the shaft of the needle also needs to be big enough to create a hole for the threads to go through the fabric.

With those basic tools, you could do a little sampler—try a circle of chain stitch, one of stem stitch, and so on—and then maybe do some flowers. I think you could definitely learn those four stitches in an afternoon.

Brittany: 30:26
Okay, yeah, you completely read my mind with that answer. I was just thinking, I wonder if it’s easier to do this stuff on crochet or if that actually makes it more difficult.

Andy: 30:37
I think it would make it a little bit more difficult, just because you’re working with thicker textures of wool when you embroider on crochet. But once you’ve mastered the stitches on fabric, I think applying them to crochet will just click into place.

Brittany: 30:56
Yeah. So once you have the design on your piece, are there any finishing steps? Like, in crochet we weave in our ends and things like that. Are there any extra steps to finishing with embroidery?

Andy: 31:11
If you’re embroidering on a garment or bag that’s not lined and will get friction on the back, you’ll want to anchor your stitches in a way that they won’t come undone.

To start a thread, I’ll do a backstitch. I’ll come up on the back, run under a couple single crochets, then go back around—that’s a backstitch—and then I’m ready to come up on the front side. I don’t usually use knots in wool embroidery because they’re bulky, and they might pull through to the front.

To finish a thread, I do something similar—I run it under a few embroidery stitches on the back, then do a backstitch to secure it. Always check the front as you’re doing this to make sure nothing is showing through that shouldn’t be.

Brittany: 32:27
Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, I think in my beginner brain, I’d just assume you could tie a knot and call it done, especially since there’s a clear right and wrong side to crochet. But it’s good to know that’s not always the best idea, especially with the openness of crochet fabric.

Andy: 32:50
Yeah. Honestly, with probably every hoop I make, I have to take out a stitch or two that shows through from the back. If I see something peeking through that I didn’t mean to show—like on a stem or leaf—I’ll fix it.

Brittany: 33:05
That brings up another good point I hadn’t thought of: what happens when you make a mistake with embroidery?

With crochet, it’s easy—you just pull out stitches. With knitting, it’s not quite as easy, but still doable. But with embroidery, it feels more permanent—more like sewing. Is it hard to fix mistakes? Or not possible?

Andy: 33:37
Oh no, you can absolutely fix mistakes. If something doesn’t look right and you’re not happy with it, take it out and get it right.

There’s no sense in working for hours on something that you’re not going to be proud of. If it’s just a straight stitch, you can use the eye of your needle to pull it out. If it’s a knotted stitch, sometimes it’s easier to snip it—but be super careful not to cut the crochet.

Once you snip a French knot, for example, you can usually pull it right out. So yeah—if you’re not happy with something while you’re working on it, chances are you won’t be happy with it when it’s finished either. So go ahead and fix it.

Brittany: 34:44
That’s so true. Now, I feel like this might be a total beginner question, but I’m curious—when you’re working on a flower, for example, do you use one long piece of yarn for the whole flower? Or do you use short strands and keep adding more? Does that make sense?

Andy: 35:19
Yeah, totally makes sense. No, I just cut a length of yarn—nothing too long—because if it’s too long, it gets twisted and tangled. It also starts looping on itself, which makes pulling it through difficult.

I usually stick to about 24 inches or so. If I run out partway through something like a spiderweb rose, I just end off with enough of a tail to run under some stitches in the back.

Sometimes I cut it a little short and can’t run it in easily, so I’ll use the eye of the needle to help pull the thread under—just a little trick I’ve picked up.

Brittany: 36:21
Yeah, yeah, that’s sort of where my mind was going with that. When you run out of a skein of yarn while crocheting, it’s pretty simple to just add a new ball or change colors. I wasn’t sure if it was that easy when it comes to embroidery.

Plus, the motions that go into it—it’s a different process. I recently finished a crochet afghan that was a pretty big size. It was 12 squares wide and 16 squares long, and each square was four inches. So it was a decent-sized little afghan, like a throw sort of thing.

Now, you mentioned before that you like to use wool yarns when you’re doing your embroidery, and I think that’s such a cool idea. Are there any other types of fibers that you like to use? Do you ever use embroidery floss?

Andy: 37:36
No. For this particular kind of embroidery—where I’m doing wool on wool—I don’t use cotton threads. I use mostly wools and mohair.

I actually grew up in South Africa on a wool farm. We had Merino sheep and Angora goats, so I’ve always had an affinity for really beautiful wools. When I go back home to South Africa, I visit our family farm. It’s in the wool and mohair district, where actually most of the mohair in the world comes from.

It’s just so luscious to go into a workshop and come home with beautiful balls of wool. And I sort of have a passion for helping industries that teach women skills so they can earn an income.

A lot of the wools I use are made by women who are working hard to rise above poverty and support their families. That just makes it all feel really special to me. And yes, I do have a nice stash of beautiful, hand-spun wools. It also gives me an excuse to buy more when I travel!

Brittany: 39:09
Well, and they’re all totally unique too. That’s one of the coolest things about walking into a yarn store—you never know what you’re going to find. And you never know if you’ll ever find it again, especially with hand-spun or hand-dyed yarns.

They’re not mass-produced, so that makes all of your pieces even more unique.

Andy: 39:30
Yeah. And there are so many beautiful indie wools in America, too. So don’t get me wrong—I love buying them here and supporting local shops as well.

Brittany: 39:39
Totally. I’m definitely not a wool expert, but I know that when you find a wool you love, you just know it’s something special.

There’s a reason people joke about going into a specialty yarn shop, buying a hank of yarn, and just keeping it to pet it—because it’s so beautiful and soft. You treasure it and wait to find the perfect project to turn it into something meaningful.

That’s something I can definitely relate to. I may not know the production side of things, but I do know what it’s like to find a special yarn and want to turn it into something special.

So I wonder now—is the process the same for most of your pieces? We’ve laid out the general steps you follow when creating something new. Would you say every piece is completely unique, or do you follow the same process, just with different yarns or embroidery designs?

Andy: 40:59
I freehand all of my designs. There’s not really an easy way to mark crochet with a pattern. You can’t hold it up to the light and trace something onto it—not even with a washable pen. So I just start fresh every time.

I usually begin with a focal flower or two, or maybe three depending on the hoop size. Then I pull out other colors to coordinate, either based on what I already have in mind or what works well with the background.

After that, I usually add the leaves. Sometimes I’ll stitch a flower over a leaf or petal, because if you think about a real bouquet, you’ll often see flowers overlapping each other.

That’s something I’ve started doing more recently—layering petals and leaves so they overlap a bit. I don’t really plan it all out. I just make up the design as I go, and I never know exactly how a piece will turn out when I get started.

That said, I do work in series. I started doing that maybe a year and a half ago. I’ll do a whole group based on a certain background color or theme. They’re meant to mix and match—they look good together on a wall—but they’re not identical. Each one will have unique elements like different flower combinations or secondary colors.

Brittany: 42:56
Okay, yeah—so they sort of complement each other, but they’re not carbon copies. That makes sense.

One thing I noticed while scrolling through your shop is how many of your pieces feature flowers. You could embroider anything, but flowers seem to be your go-to. What is it about flowers that keeps you inspired?

Andy: 43:27
I think I’ve loved flowers my whole life. My parents grew them when I was a kid, and I was always free to pick whatever I wanted and play with them.

I’ve also been a lifelong crafter, and I’ve made flowers in all kinds of mediums. As a child, I made tissue paper flowers. Later, I crocheted them. I’ve made flowers out of icing, fabric—you name it.

One time I sat down and came up with nearly 100 different ways I’ve made flowers over the years. That’s helped me learn their anatomy—what makes a flower work, how shading matters, and so on.

I also love gardening. I’ve planted all kinds of flowers in my garden—different colors for different seasons. I love picking them, bringing them inside, and even using them as props when I photograph my hoops.

Brittany: 44:31
That’s another thing I noticed—your product photos. There’s always something pretty in the background that complements your hoop. It’s cool to hear that those are actually from your own garden.

Now, my husband and I have just recently gotten into gardening. I love flowers, but I’m still not quite good enough for some of them. I have a bunch of houseplants, though—and my strategy was to get the hard-to-kill ones first to build my confidence.

Now I’m starting to branch out a bit. I’m actually looking right now at a pink African violet on my desk. From what I’ve heard, those are one of the more finicky flowers to grow—and yet here it is, thriving!

So I’m really starting to love the world of flowers too. I’ve always loved crocheting them, but I think it’s only recently that I’ve been able to truly care for them. I admired them for years without being able to keep them alive. But I guess in my old age, I’m finally getting a little better at knowing what they need!

Andy: 45:50
Yeah, flowers definitely need water when they’re out in the garden. They don’t do so well without it. And in the summer, they definitely need to be fertilized too—that really helps them produce.

Brittany: 46:04
Yes! And the internet is a wonderful place to learn all of that, for sure. If it weren’t for YouTube and various blogs, I wouldn’t have this little African violet sitting on my desk—I probably would’ve killed it by accident.

Well, this has been a lot of fun. I don’t want to get too far off track—I was going down a bit of a rabbit trail there—but we’ve heard so many great tips. And I think it’s fair to say that someone could absolutely dabble in this just to switch things up and create something new and unique.

Out of everything you’ve shared with us today, if someone is ready to give embroidery-on-crochet a try, what would be your first tip for them?

Andy: 46:51
Well, I’d say—don’t be scared! Don’t be afraid to give it a try.

Start by choosing a coordinating or contrasting color, and just begin with some straight stitches. Like I mentioned earlier, you can do a spoke-style flower really easily. Then grab some green and add in a few simple leaves—again, just straight stitches.

For the center of the flower, you can add another set of stitches in a darker color, like a rich yellow or even black, to give it a proper center. You don’t have to know fancy embroidery stitches right away. Sure, you’ll be a little limited at first, but that’s okay. Don’t let that stop you from playing and experimenting.

And then, as you go, you can start learning some stitches and branch out even more.

Brittany: 47:53
Yes, I love that. I think one way we can all relate to this is by thinking back to when we first learned to crochet.

Maybe you only knew one stitch at first—let’s say, single crochet—and maybe you only used that stitch for months. But just because you only knew one stitch didn’t mean you couldn’t make a ton of cool projects.

I feel like it’s probably the same thing with embroidery. You might only know one or two stitches, but you can still be creative and make something awesome with just that.

Andy: 48:22
Absolutely. Like when I do my toadstools, I really only use straight stitches. I mean, I’ll outline them a little, but you could even do that with just straight stitches.

Then I just fill them in with lots of shaded colors—reds, peaches, blush tones, things like that. It’s a bit like needle painting, really. You don’t need to know any fancy stitches for that. It’s just in, out, in, out. Super simple.

Brittany: 49:01
Exactly. So yes—go for it! Learn one or maybe two stitches on YouTube.

Maybe find a picture of a flower you love and try embroidering it onto one of your crochet projects. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got crochet projects stashed everywhere—closets, drawers, baskets. I’m sure I can find something to experiment on.

Even just adding my initials to something would be a fun little touch—just to say I’ve done it. I don’t have to do it on every project, but I love experimenting with different crafts.

So I just want to thank you, Andy, for coming on the show, sharing your knowledge, and making this feel totally doable for all of us.

Andy: 49:49
Thank you for having me. It’s been my honor!

Brittany: 49:53
Before we hop off here, I want to make sure people know where to find you.

Seriously—go look at her stuff. It’ll change your life. There’s just something about having something beautiful to look at. So where can people connect with you and see all of your gorgeous work?

Andy: 50:11
Well, I’m not on Twitter, but I am on Instagram and Facebook. My Instagram is @oandystudio—that’s O-A-N-D-Y studio.

My Etsy shop is etsy.com/shop/OandYStudio, and you can also find me on Facebook under O&Y Studio.

I also have a website—oandystudio.com—and from there or Instagram, you can get to my shop.

Brittany: 50:52
Got it! I’ll have links to all of that in the show notes so you don’t have to worry about remembering.

If you’re listening while driving or out and about, just head over to the show notes when you have a free minute and check out some of her work. Be inspired by it! That’s really what this community is about—admiring beautiful work and feeling inspired to create something ourselves.

So once again, thank you so much, Andy. It’s truly been a pleasure to talk with you today.

Andy: 51:32
Thank you for having me, Brittany.

Brittany: 51:34
All right, friends—that was Andy from O&Y Studio. Definitely look her up on Instagram and check out her amazing work so you can put a visual to everything you just heard. I think it’ll blow your mind.

You can find all the links we talked about over on the show notes page for this episode at bhooked.com/132.

Now I’d love to hear from you. Have you tried blending crochet and embroidery? How did it go? I want to see what you’ve made!

Here’s a little challenge for you: Andy mentioned she’s not on Twitter, but you know I’m all about helping this community connect and have meaningful conversations there. So tweet me! I’m @bhookedcrochet—that’s B-H-O-O-K-E-D crochet.

Tell me about your experience with embroidery and crochet. Have you tried it? Or maybe you haven’t yet but you’re curious? I just want to start the conversation. It’s such a fun and different idea, and you can probably tell—I’m pretty pumped about it.

If Twitter’s not your thing, no worries. There’s a comment section on the show notes page too. I’m right there on the other side of the keyboard, and I love connecting with you.

Now before I go, I want to remind you that today’s episode was brought to you by my Blueprint course: Tunisian Crochet for Beginners.

You’ve probably heard me talk about this before and why I got into Tunisian crochet in the first place. It’s something I love to do when I want to shake things up. You know that’s a common theme for me—I love crochet and knitting, but every now and then, I wake up on a Sunday morning and just want to try something new.

I have a feeling embroidery is going to play that role in my life soon! But if you want to try a different type of crochet, Tunisian crochet is so much fun. It’s completely unique and kind of a hybrid between crochet and knitting.

If you’re a crocheter and you’ve never quite clicked with knitting, but you love the look of knit stitches—Tunisian crochet might be your new best friend. You can create a lot of the same stitches using a technique that’s familiar.

So I teamed up with Blueprint (formerly Craftsy) to create a completely beginner-friendly course. We cover everything—tools, hooks, and I walk you through three beginner projects step by step.

All right, that officially wraps up this week’s episode of The Be Hooked Podcast. If you haven’t subscribed yet, go ahead and do that in your podcast player. I’ve got some great guests and topics lined up—including some old favorites and a few new surprises.

Have a wonderful weekend, experiment with embroidery and crochet, and I’ll see you next time, friend. Bye-bye!