Embroidered Pet Portraits: The Thread Painting Technique

Michelle Staub is a hand-embroidery artist based in Ohio, US. Growing up in a family of creatives, she was always encouraged to pursue her artistic side and went on to study art at college. After graduating, she discovered a love for embroidery and the positive impact it had on her mental health, so she began posting and sharing her work online under the name Stitching Sabbatical.

Michelle later created her first pet portrait of her cat and, after receiving a lot of attention online, she started to attract custom commissions for similar pieces. Since then, she has gone on to specialize in embroidered pet portraits and shares her work with over 180K followers on Instagram. In 2021, she also published a book, Pet Portrait Embroidery, filled with patterns and guides to help others create custom pet portraits of their own.