Amelia - The creative genius behind your favourite embroidery kits

We cannot continue with these stitching stories a month longer without getting in conversation with one of the icons of the embroidery world, the talent that is Amelia Stitches. I was lucky enough to pick Amelia’s brains amongst the chaos of studying for her masters and running her own small business. I spoke to Amelia about everything from MusicalCon to life as a small business owner during Covid 19.

Amelia’s stitching journey began in her childhood, where she was first inspired by her Grandma who even sewed her first wedding dress. Amelia began by learning cross stitch, as attempts at the other fibre arts such as sewing clothes and knitting never managed to stick! It was at age 11 that she discovered hand embroidery, which was a large part of her artwork for school in her teenage years. Amelia learnt some stitches from her Mum, but otherwise would describe herself as self-taught after learning everything else online. Amelia was drawn to the freedom that freehand embroidery brings, and loves bringing her skills embroidery to her already crafty family. Amelia created her final GCSE art piece using hand embroidery, where she stitched continuously for 10 hours: “It started an obsession that’s lasted 8 years, and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon!”

Amelia’s small business, Amelia Stitches, first began during the uncertainty of Covid 19 when Amelia’s upcoming A-Levels were cancelled. Whilst living in lockdown, Amelia decided to turn her hobby into a side hustle:

“After baking far too much banana bread, watching every movie Netflix had to offer and realising that lockdown wouldn’t be ending any time soon, I decided to try and turn my hobby into a small business. I only ever intended to sell a few pieces, in the hope of making some money so I could afford a new laptop for university, but it sort of spiralled – and here we are 5 years later!!”

The rest as they say, is history. Amelia creates delightful hand embroidery kits inspired by pop culture, literature and musicals. Amelias first kit was Christmas themed, and had a slightly slow start, but it was her Musical Theatre themed kits that really took off, and sold out within three days.

“Hearing my phone ping over and over with Etsy notifications was just bonkers, and my parents were just as shocked as I was! I still get a little buzz every time I make a sale – I feel incredibly lucky.”

The first time I encountered Amelia’s work in person, after following her for a long time on Instagram, was at The Knit and Stitch Festival in October 2024. Amelia described to me the surreal feeling of being there alongside so many businesses, and explained how often the most stressful part of stitching events like K&SF was the set-up, where endless problems would always seem to appear. On the other hand, Amelia’s favourite part is getting to speak to so many people who had used her kits in the past or were just getting started on their embroidery journey.

Engaging with the crafty community around her is Amelia’s favourite part of running her small embroidery business. Despite her own competitive nature that she feels is mainly aimed back at herself, and she never feels that she needs to measure her success against her peers, down to how supportive the community around her is.

It is the support from the community around her that has been vital in spurring Amelia on whilst trying to balance a successful small business and studying for her Masters at University. Amelia will openly admit the struggles of balancing these along with the part time jobs she has been working to fun her studies, along with also filling her calendar with more shows such at The Stitch Festival. But the tough and busy times have definitely helped Amelia grow and develop in the embroidery design machine that she is, with the support of the community and those around her:

“I know that I need structure, organisation and planning, but that sometimes I also need to be a little kinder to myself when I can’t achieve the 4 million completely unachievable things I’ve told myself I can do. Leaning on family, friends and those close to me when things get a bit rocky has been so important, and I’m very lucky to have a brilliant support network to tell me when I’m trying to do too much!”

I couldn’t speak to Amelia about her successful business without asking her for her top tips for others looking to start their own side hustle. “Make sure you really, really, REALLY love what you do.” Amelia told me, “You will spend an ungodly amount of time on a small business, often making less than minimum wage (at least in the very beginning!), and you’ll have so many literal nightmares about stock and insurance and taxes that you’ll ask yourself what on EARTH you were ever thinking! But keep going – when it all falls into place and things you thought you could only imagine actually start to happen, it’s the best feeling in the world!”

Amelia’s small biz success seems to be going from strength to strength. Currently on a little break to complete her studies, Amelia is doing a kit clear out, and plans to return in full force with a rebrand in October. A well deserved rest for a completely self-made, self-taught, and complete girl boss business owner. I am so excited to see what is next for Amelia Stitches, and I encourage you, lovely reader, to check out her Instagram and Etsy, whether you be a seasoned crafter or terrified to pick up a needle for the first time!