Once Upon A Stitch is the product of many years pursuing various interests.

Animal designs make up a large portion of the designs offered here. Animals and art have been a large part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started out with pencil, and pen & ink illustration (of animals of course), but working with exotic animals and wildlife was my career of choice. I worked for many years as a zookeeper, and as veterinary assistant at an exotic pet clinic. But over the years, I found myself drawn back into more creative endeavors. I started illustrating again.

And then ... my mom introduced me to machine embroidery. She had a fabric store at the time, and sold embroidery machines. She insisted that I should learn to digitize and create embroidery designs from my artwork. She convinced me, and I set out to learn to digitize. I started with a new program called "Origins" There wasn't a lot of instruction available, so I learned the software, and digitizing in general by trial and error. A few years later I moved on to another new program, Generations, which I continue to use, and occasionally teach.

Stephani Knutson

Pinterest