Orts: Threads of Creativity
Orts is newsletter collecting small snippets of creativity: embroiderers, textile artists, illustrators, DIY projects, and how we can make time for our creative endeavors. Published on the weekends.
This is what I do at 10:15 every night
I saw a video at the end of 2025 that changed how I approached 2026. The message, paraphrasing, was that if you want to get more done, you should add a constraint. Psychology shows that our brains perform better when we "narrow the path" and reduce the number of decisions we have to make. After watching that video, I put writing a long list of goals on the back burner and instead decided to focus on developing some constraints on my time. The big one, I decided, was that every night, from...
Imagine your pet as a work of art... stitched by you! ✨
Are you aspiring to make more art in 2026? Well, I've got you covered. I'm excited to share that I have several custom pet portrait workshops at the beginning of 2026! I'll be bouncing around parts of Western WA—Seattle to Tacoma to Bothell—and even Ventura, CA, showing you how you can celebrate your furiend through embroidery 🪡 Here's where to find me: 🗓️ Sunday, January 25: Crafty AF in Tacoma from 12 PM to 2 PM 🗓️ Wednesday, January 28: Alexandra's Macarons in Seattle from 6 PM to 8 PM...
Learn to stitch your pet! 🐶 🪡
Celebrate your furiend with embroidery! Do you want to celebrate your pet (or a loved one's pet) with a DIY portrait... but you can't draw? Well, if you can poke a needle through a piece of felt over and over (and over) again, you can create your own custom pet portrait! And better yet, I'll provide you all of the tools you'll need—from the drawing of your pet to the thread you'll use—and show you how to get started during my in-person workshop. Take my pet portrait workshop I'm teaching Turn...
How my cat helped me upcycle a sweatshirt 🐱
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes My cat Otis helped me upcycle one of my sweatshirts. Well, sort of. Otis loves me, but he can’t help me draw or sew. He was my model/muse for a patch project; I embroidered his cute face and stuck it onto my sweatshirt, making the garment feel brand new. At the beginning of 2025, I challenged myself to only buy secondhand clothes or upcycle what I already own. (I did make some exceptions, like underwear.) By and large, it’s been much...
Micro knitting and quilt block cross stitch 🧶 🪡
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes Hi again! Welcome to this week's 5/5 link pack: 5 creatively inspiring projects (and/or people) and 5 ways for you to DIY. One of my favorite trends on TikTok right now has to do with museums and trending (or iconic) sounds. Essentially, an institution will pair a conversational sound—be it from music, TV, or just funny things people say—with one of their artworks, zooming in on the figures in the artwork as if they are recreating the...
Honeycomb stitching and scrap-busting beetles 🐝 🪲
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes Hi again! Welcome to this week's 5/5 link pack: 5 creatively inspiring projects (and/or people) and 5 ways for you to DIY. Joann, as we knew it, has been shuttered for nearly three months (Michaels acquired its intellectual property and private label brands, FYI). If you’ve been in Michaels, you’ve likely seen that they carry fabric now, although it’s nowhere near Joann's selection. Kaylee Bryner, aka Threaded Peach, has compiled a list...
Needlepoint purses and 'King of the Hill' crochet
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes Hi again! Welcome to this week's 5/5 link pack: 5 creatively inspiring projects (and/or people) and 5 ways for you to DIY. If you like link recommendation newsletters (I'm guessing you do since you're reading this!), I've got a suggestion for you: The High Low. It's a free weekly newsletter with curated culture for the chronically online. Each edition features links to highbrow content (think art exhibition openings) alongside lowbrow...
Pipe cleaner vases and rogue mosaics
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes Hello! Welcome to this week's 5/5 link pack: 5 creatively inspiring projects (and/or people) and 5 ways for you to DIY. 🗣️ Tell me! Do you feed crows? This summer, I've started feeding the crows who hang around my house. At first, it was a way to entertain my cat, Otis, but now I'm obsessed with them. If you feed crows, reply to this email and tell me your tips and tricks. 👉 ICYMI: This puffy lampshade was the most clicked link in the...
Puffy lampshades and knitted notebooks
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes Hi, hello! I hope your summer is going well so far. If you're new to Orts, this week is my 5/5 link pack: 5 creatively inspiring projects (and/or people) and 5 ways for you to DIY. 🗣️ Tell me! What's inspiring your creativity? What projects are you working on? Reply to this email and let me know! (And scroll down for mine.) 👉 ICYMI: This pair of "paint splattered" embroidered jeans was the most clicked link in the last 5/5. Tessa Perlow ✨...
A million embroidery stitches and historical cookie decorating
Sharing threads of creativity 🧵 Written by Sara Barnes In typical Sara fashion, my April 12th email, in which I said "see ya in a couple of weeks," was not two weeks. Dear reader, it's been nearly two months. We skipped from the middle of spring to (practically) the first official day of summer. (FWIW, my summer started when this season of Love Island USA aired on June 3.) If you've subscribed to Orts within the last couple of months (hello!), this week is my 5/5 link pack: 5 creatively...
Orts is newsletter collecting small snippets of creativity: embroiderers, textile artists, illustrators, DIY projects, and how we can make time for our creative endeavors. Published on the weekends.