Stitchy Woman

An Interview with Gina from Doe-C-Doe

Hi Gina! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I went to school for graphic design, I met my guy while there and every since we’ve been together moving around, collecting more stuff and caring for our pets. Right now we live in the Midwest but we’re both originally from the East coast.

How did you come up with the name of your blog?
There are so many great names out there – I knew what I wanted to evoke but I couldn’t come up with something that felt right. I was watching an old movie on TMC, with Danny Kaye I think and they were talking about square dancing I guess…I liked the bounciness of it but wanted to make it feel less literal so I played with the words/sound and came up with doe-c-doe.

What’s one thing we probably don’t know about you?
I love to get a spoonful of peanut butter & then dip/scoop pieces of Hershey’s chocolate in it – try it, you’ll like it!



When did you first start stitching?
I started about 3 or 4 years ago – I used it as a creative outlet beyond the computer, which I spend a great deal of time on. Also, I find it relaxing and something I can do while watching tv which used to just be wasted time.

Do you do other crafty things as well?
Not really. I’d like to do more but I don’t have enough energy…

Stitching is very creative, yet also very detail oriented and precise. Does it reflect your personality?
It does reflect my personality because I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I try to make my stitches really even but am constantly humbled by other people’s work.

Do you ever rip out stitches to re-do them in a different color or type of stitch?
I’ve done that a couple time because I wasn’t happy with the color I originally choose. I’ve learned that if I’m not happy with the way something is looking I need to just bite the bullet and fix it because I’ll never be really happy with it. So much time goes into a piece, in the end, it needs to be as close as possible to what I envisioned.

Where do you find the patterns you use?
I use vintage transfers from my collection, books, clip-art, free patterns others post and coloring books.



Do you have an all-time favorite pattern you’ve used again and again?
I haven’t repeated anything I’ve done yet – I tend to do something and then want to move on to something new.

What kinds of things do you embroider on (towels, pillowcases, etc)?
I’ve done a couple pillows & towels as gifts but I think my favorite formats are shadow-boxes & wall-hangings:

(I was inspired by a painting on flickr to create this piece)

This is my most recent finished project (using a free pattern provided by badbird):

Do you ever make anything for yourself?
Yes, but mostly I like to give embroidery as gifts because I know the people I’m giving it to really appreciate what goes into it.

Where do you find inspiration?
All over, the internet, vintage craft books, magazines, nature – the list goes on & on… If the embroidery is a gift for someone I definitely am inspired by them – that’s the best, when you get it just right!
I also find inspiration in my mom – not only because she makes beautiful things but because she gets so much joy out of what I make & I love making her smile!

Are there any websites or blogs you visit regularly for creative inspiration?
Just like everyone else I visit so many it’s hard to try to pick just a few {I list many on my blog}. However, I would say the blog that was the first one I read regularly and which has been such an overall inspiration to me is posie gets cozy.

Do you sell the items you make?
I don’t sell the items I make, although I’m very flattered when people say they wish I would! I’m thinking about opening an etsy shop & have considered selling digital copies of some of my vintage transfers there, but don’t know yet what I’m going to do.

If you could listen to anything while you worked on a project, what would it be?
When I’m stitching it’s the tv, ideally a movie I’ve seen many times before so I don’t have to look up too often! But when I’m preparing a project to start and am in my office its NPR. Since it’s the weekend usually its one of the “fun” shows like This American Life or Car Talk.

Can you show me a few projects and tell me about them?
This is an example of a gift inspired by the recipient’s interest. My guy loves to photograph bugs & I’ve never been big on the real bug specimen box thing so I thought this was a fun way to create my own version.


My dear friend suggested I try embroidering on a lampshade & this was the result, which I in turn gave to her for her baby’s nursery:


My sister loves Lucy & so I wanted to make her something related to that. I referenced Jenny Hart’s portraits to gain confidence and ended up being really happy with the results:


What three movies are next on your Netflix Queue?
Yikes, we don’t have Netflix! But here are 3 movies I always watch when they are on cable:
1. Amelie
2. My Favorite Wife
3. The Princess Bride

Where can we find more of you?
The thrift store! {Or here on Flickr}

Gina makes so many beautiful things and has all sorts of fun and wonderful collections. Make sure to visit her blog, Doe-C-Doe to check it all out for yourself!

Thank you, Gina!

xoxo