• Competition: Wearables Apparel Design Awards 2018
• Size: 10.5 x 10.5 (inches)
• Software: Wilcom ES 2.0
• Stitch Count: 210,000
• Number of threads: 16 colors
• Sew-out Time: Approximately 10 hours

Story: We had the design drawn in house by our resident artist Travis Bundy from a sketch by our vector guru Mark Hardouin. The scales and lips were done with Madeira's awesome metallic twist threads. The metallic thread is thin, so it still looks cleaner than some metallic threads in the market. The design is over 200,000 stitches and 16 colors. The machine stops in the middle of the design so we can replace one of the colors. The face is done in a series of blends with jagged edges that overlap in a non linear way. This allowed me to change the shading while not changing the direction of the stitch. It is a very complex way of doing blends but creates a smooth look. The snakes were done by creating 6 different snakeskin patterns as program split fills. I could also edit these patterns to fit each snake better.

• Competition: Wearables Apparel Design Awards 2017
• Size: 10.3x 7.8 (inches)
• Software: Wilcom
• Stitch Count: 132,000
• Number of threads: 13 colors
• Sew-out Time: Approximately 3 hours

Story: Inspired by a trip to China, Jesse plays on the Yin Yang using the classic Chinese dragon along with an older Medieval Western dragon. Keeping the colors simple he approached the design with different stitch types, textures and angles. Extra underlay was used to create more loft for the scales and different fill patterns for the rest of the dragons. A combination of manual spit stitches to create even more detail in the Western dragon. For the appliqués, a print with of the landscape was decorated with different fill types with split stitches to delineate the bricks. The trees and grass were made with random manual stitches to give them a more rough and organic look.

• Competition: Impressions Awards 2017 Multimedia
• Size: 9.97x6.49 (inches)
• Software: Wilcom E2
• Stitch Count: 33,933
• Number of threads: 10 colors
• Sew-out Time: Approximately an hour

Story: Mark wanted to try combining our new direct togarment printer to create an appliquéd embroidery design. It was originally going to start off with just a simple sew-line border and text, then it grew into embroidered tree lines and details.

• Competition: Impressions Awards 2017 Digitizing Artistry
• Size: 12x10 (inches)
• Software: Wilcom Software
• Stitch Count: 139,000
• Number of threads: 14 colors
• Sew-out Time: 3.7 hours

Story: We wanted to present a bright and colorful example of classic car that encapsulated the time period.

• Competition: Impressions Magazine
• Size: 10.75x 8.6 (inches)
• Software: Wilcom Embroidery Studio
• Stitch Count: 114,694
• Number of threads: 15 colors
• Sew-out Time: 4.5 hours

Story: Jesse was inspired by an iguana while watching one of his favorite nature shows. He thought the reptiles skin texture could be a new challenge he could replicate in embroidery. He developed a new technique that can be seen in our Chameleon Records jacket back design, where he blended a love for vintage music with a colorful, many layered piece that uses complex blends along with split stitch functions to create an effortless looking design.

• Competition: Stitches Magazine Golden Needle Awards
• Size: 10.5x 8.34 (inches)
• Software: Wilcom ES9
• Stitch Count: 205,179
• Number of threads: 15 colors
• Sew-out Time: 8 hours

Story: Fur and feathers are complex elements to properly recreate in embroidery. We challenged our artists to perfect these techniques and the result is a colorful exhibition of split and jagged-edge stitches, in this award winning animal medley design.