Her daughter doodles; she turns it into art. Inez Tan is embroidery’s answer to Sally Mann.
Her daughter doodles; she turns it into art. Inez Tan is embroidery’s answer to Sally Mann.
PHOTOGRAPHY DARREN CHANG ART DIRECTION SHAN HAIR & MAKEUP ANGEL GWEE, USING KEVIN.MURPHY & DIOR
Inez Tan’s quality time with her daughter Miya translates to new ideas for her embroidered art.
As in most homes, family portraits map the white walls of Inez Tan’s three bed room apartment, where she lives with her video-director husband, Benjamin Siow, 41, and their two children, Miya, six, and Tyler, three. But unlike most families’ portraits – smiling selfies or studio set-ups – theirs are created by Tan with needle and thread, based off her daughter’s doodles. Decidedly artisanal – and if you like the idea, she can do the same for you, too.
Tan, 41, is an embroidery artist with her own label, Inez Designs. She spends up to seven hours a day at a make shift workstation in her bedroom, producing what she calls “colourful, bohemian, eclectic, with a touch of kitsch” embroidered works. She first sketches them – they are either customised projects or one-of-akind designs. Then, she hand-stitches them onto fabric, and fashions them into necklaces, brooches, and badges, or embroidered art hoops. These she sells at www.inez-designs. com – hoops for $150-$300; brooches and necklaces for $59-$169.
When Tan started her label in 2010, she wasn’t selling her embroidered works; she sold handmade jewellery on the side while working full-time as a fashion merchandiser.
She sold her first embroidered piece only in late 2016 – a piece commissioned by a friend of a friend. She had picked up cross-stitch, then other forms of embroidery, while pregnant with her son. “I enjoyed cross-stitch, but it got mundane,” she says. “So I decided to learn other kinds of embroidery. Video tutorials online helped. It was difficult when I first started, but I practised incessantly till I got the hang of it.”
Before long, Tan was incorporating thread work into her jewellery, and creating embroidered hoops for herself and her friends. The tools of her trade are simple. For her hoop pieces, she uses medium-weight quilting cotton as the base fabric – it’s thin enough to trace her designs over before she begins stitching. For necklaces and brooches, she uses felt and tulle, and suede as backing. For threads, she is partial to those by US brand DMC for their softness and vibrancy.
Tan also recommends browsing DMC’s website for free patterns and instructions. A fan of mixing media, she incorporates beads, sequins and crystals into her designs.
She is now experimenting with different fabrics and incorporating paint. The materials are easy to find, she says. “Spotlight and craft stores in Chinatown sell all the basic materials you need. Fabrics are also easily available at any local craft store.”
On top of her daily output, Tan has themed collections of hoop embroidery and accessories, released every three to six months. Her first was Secret Garden; the second was Loteria, inspired by a book on the Mexican card game she had picked up during a library excursion with avid doodler Miya – the inspiration for Tan’s favourite personal project.
Titled “She Draws I Thread”, it is a series of whimsical works ranging from stick-figure family portraits (which Miya draws every week) to mini stories involving princesses, animals, and strange, magical lands. These are not for sale, although Tan can create similar customised ones. “Miya draws daily, and it’s a special time we have together when we sit down and share jokes, and she explains to me the stories behind her doodles. Occasionally, she requests that I work on a specific work of hers.”
1. E-mail your order or fill in a form at www. inez-designs.com. Describe what you want – a specific style, colour palette, text, or particular elements. Provide reference pictures if necessary. Do say if you want the back stitches hidden or not.
2. Tan will make contact for an e-mail discussion.
3. She will then send a design sketch for your approval. Work commences when the design is finalised.
4. Your personal hoop will be ready in one to six weeks.
