Stitching the Skies - An Aerial Journey Through Textile Art with Victoria Rose Richards

We're thrilled to feature the incredibly talented Victoria Rose Richards on our sewing blog! Victoria's unique approach to textile art transports us high above the landscapes she captures, offering us mesmerising aerial views sewn with intricate textures and vibrant threads. Growing up amidst the lush landscapes of Devon, UK, Victoria discovered her passion for textile design during a challenging time in her life, finding comfort and expression through her art. Her journey is one of resilience, creativity, and dedication to exploring landscapes from new heights.

In this interview, she shares her inspiration, creative process, and insights into the world of textile design. Learn how Victoria transforms threads and fabric into breathtaking aerial views, and get inspired by her journey, advice for aspiring designers, and sustainable practices that make her work truly remarkable.

Can you share your journey into the world of textile design? What drew you to this career and inspired your passion for it?

I was brought up and still live in a pretty rural area in Devon, UK, surrounded by farmland, wild areas and rivers. I’ve loved being creative from very young but while studying at university, where I couldn’t do much in my accommodation, I stumbled into sewing. I was going through a bad time – I’d had mood issues for years already but then a school friend of mine died and it tipped over into real depression. I felt lost in my free time, feeling I couldn’t be as creative as I wanted since I couldn’t paint or do models like I did at home, and eventually started looking for something else. I happened across pictures of embroidery landscapes online and wanted to have a go. I had my grandmothers old sewing tin and threads, got some green and blues out… and just kept sewing! This was in late 2018 – from there, especially after finishing my degree the following June, I began to focus more on top-down aerial views of the landscape around me as I found something so fascinating and exciting about the mix of textures and shapes, how it all looked so different but still familiar… from late 2019 onwards I essentially began to only do aerial view embroidery and I’ve been exploring it ever since!

Could you walk us through your creative process? How do you take a concept or idea and turn it into a finished textile piece?

The landscapes I create are often from my imagination ( but some are inspired by areas I find on Google Earth, especially of the Devon landscape around me!). I do little planning ahead or sketching for most my pieces too; instead, it is much more intuitive. A field piece for example – I start with the trees first, deciding as I go what shape I want them to form. When I’ve done the majority, I sketch out the rough field shapes, deciding as I go whether I want a more formally-structured or randomly-structured landscape. Once I’m happy with that, I decide what they’ll actually be, and the final step is adding the details like animals, tractor tracks, vehicles, etc. I have standard threads I use for specific stitches and areas but sometimes mix things up!

What are your main sources of inspiration for your designs? Are there particular places, people, or experiences that consistently spark your creativity?

The main sources of inspiration for me are often the landscapes of my home county, Devon: I feel a very particular connection to both the agricultural and wild landscapes I could find around me. However, as the years have passed since I started in 2019, I find myself more and more drawn to those inspired by other countries. Just last month I was experimenting with Vietnamese rice terraces, and back in August the amazon rainforest. Either way, a big spark of creativity is when I come across a particularly out-there formation or shape in the land, whether it’s a jumbled collection of fields, a weird lake, or the recent example of towering rice terraces. I want to interpret them my way in cotton and wool!

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve encountered as a textile designer, and how have you overcome them?

I’m lucky to say I really don’t think I’ve had any big challenges yet as one… the main thing I can think of is getting your art out there in the first place and how social media plays a role in that. I’ve never been very keen on social media and I only made my Instagram and Twitter accounts to share my art. It’s made it easier to reach people and find others who do similar art, but if you’re not careful or mindful, it can also end up limiting your creativity – for example ‘trends’ and sites like Instagram introducing reels means you have to think more about what will go viral by catching attentions and if one things works, you’re inclined to keep doing that thing and not branch out to keep getting that audience reach. I got caught by that once in the opposite way – something I was experimenting with in my embroidery wasn’t getting as many views so I abandoned it, and now I wonder why I let that happen… I’d let views and reach rule over my creativity and I shouldn’t have because I was genuinely interested in this thing. I think this is a general challenge for creatives online, trying to ignore the impact of the ‘algorithm’ and to not start doing what works rather than what you want.

How do you incorporate sustainability into your designs and production processes? What steps do you take to ensure your work is eco-friendly?

The main thing is I try to reduce waste as much as possible: keeping the felt off-cuts I would produce when cutting the bases and using them to stuff my 3D pieces and collecting thread off-cuts in jars I can display over time are a big point for me now. I unfortunately have to postal order most my supplies though as I no longer have a thread or fabric shop anywhere nearby, so I save up orders so I need to order as few times as possible to reduce packaging, emissions from post trips, etc. Making my craft more sustainable is hard outside of this as I’m limited to specific types of threads and wools that still work in my art.

What advice would you give to aspiring textile designers who are just starting out in the industry?

Don’t be afraid to experiment! If you think of an outlandish idea, try it anyway! I have one myself I’m working towards as it would be a large, 3D thread sculpture essentially but I will do it and if it fails, I still tried. People often have a limited view of what can be done with textiles but I find it to be a very versatile medium and anything that can be done with paint, sculpture, jewellery, etc., can be done in textiles too if you want to push the boundaries of expectation!

How has technology influenced the way you design, and what impact has it had on the textile industry? Are there any tools or innovations that you find particularly useful?

Not particularly – the only technology I incorporate in any sense into my art is Google Earth as I sometimes use it for inspiration and exploring other countries landscapes. I don’t use a sewing machine or design software but I am aware of others doing similar themed textiles to me that do, like Kate Tarling! (@katetarlingtextiles). I imagine sewing machines especially can really open up a lot of possibilities!

Are there any designers or artists who have had a significant impact on your work or inspired your creative direction?

Not many – I work more in a vacuum maybe than some artists do. However, there was a particular artist that influenced me back in 2018 that pushed me towards experimenting more with the medium and what I wanted to do with it. Although @suterdesignco (on Instagram) works in glass instead these days, she used to do aerial tropical beaches in needle punch and at the very start of my embroidery journey, I saw some of her beaches. They inspired me to try some aerial tropical scenes myself in thread. I loved it! Although it didn’t stick and I found myself drawing back to my home county’s landscapes instead, it make me think of all the different things I could do with embroidery outside of the more stereotypical things like clothing, flowers, etc.

Do you have any sewing tips or tricks that have improved your methods? Whether it’s something small or a quirky technique, what’s a sewing hack everyone should know?

Perhaps to change the fabric you use as the base depending on what thread you use – I find heavier threads like wool need thicker fabrics to support it. For example, I use lots of tapestry wool so I need to use felt as thinner ones like cotton and linen buckle under it.

Victoria Rose Richards reminds us of the endless possibilities in textile art, where even the landscapes we walk upon can be transformed into intricate masterpieces from above. Her commitment and passion for the natural world, and her openness to experimentation make her work both inspiring and thought-provoking. Whether she's capturing the serene fields of Devon or the towering rice terraces of Vietnam, Victoria’s art invites us to see the world from a new perspective, one stitch at a time.

Thank you, Victoria, for sharing your journey, insights, and beautiful artwork with us! We can't wait to see where your creativity will soar next.

Create your own textile art with our supplies: Embroidery Hoops, Embroidery Needles, Embroidery Threads and share them with us on Facebook and Instagram

Take a look at Victoria's work here, or take time to catch up on our previous guest blog posts from Poppy Treffry, Suzette Smart, Kate Owen & Corinne Young.