Hello! My name is Grace Cherry and I am actor and the person behind @embroidcherry. I was playing Puck in a touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream when Covid hit and our tour was suddenly cut short in March 2020. I have a background in sewing and had initially revisited embroidery to pass the time in lockdown, but then I started using it to create gifts for friends and family. At some point or other I found myself really loving it and so I created my brand Embroidcherry - making original, handmade embroideries.
My ‘Stretch Mark Power’ series is all about celebrating female bodies, specifically what is often socially considered as ‘flaws’ or ‘imperfections’. By representing these stretch marks as powerful lightening blots or detailed and intricate flowers, I hope to empower women to embrace their incredible bodies.
I am also a massive coffee nerd and plant mum so thought I’d combine my love for the two and see what it created: thus my ‘Coffee & Plants’ series. Alongside creating embroideries of what inspires me, I accept commissions and love working with different requests or tailoring my designs with her personal meaning.
[Image Descriptions:
Left: Two embroidery hoops either side of a purple vase with boobs. Both embroideries are the same design of a nude female torso, there are stretch marks on the breasts depicted as lightening bolts. The left hoop has a white background, the body stitched with black thread, and the lightening bolts have a dark purple outline and a metallic blue fill. The right hoop is the opposite, with a black background, white thread for the body and the lightening has a metallic blue outline and a purple fill. The vase holds dried Gypsophila flowers and was made by Swedish Artist RE: NUDE.
Top Right: An embroidery hoop hanging by a velvet, green ribbon. It has a white background and a line drawing of two hands cupping a cup of coffee is done in black embroidery thread. There is a tulip latte art pattern in the coffee, which is depicted with tiny wildflowers in green, blue, purple and white. In the foreground is the leaves of a Monsterra plant.
Bottom Right: Three small embroidery hoops depicting female bodies with stretch marks. The left has a white background and a green velvet ribbon to hang. The lower half of a torso is sewn with embroidery thread, you can see the rolls of her stomach and pubic hair. The stretch marks come from her lower stomach and are lightening bolts with a green outline and pink fill. The middle hoop has a black background and purple velvet hoop. A woman sitting with her back to us is sewn with white thread. She is angled so you can see her back rolls and her left breast. The lightening bolt - stretch marks come from her bottom and have a purple outline and metallic gold fill. The final hoop has a white background and a blue, velvet ribbon. It is the top half of a slim woman. The lightening - stretch marks are on her breasts and have a blue outline and red fill.]