Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Galbraith.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Melissa Galbraith is the fiber artist behind MCreativeJ. She was born and raised in the desert of Washington state where her mother instilled a love of making things by hand at an early age. Melissa shares her love of nature through whimsical and modern hand embroidery kits, hands-on workshops, and her books; 3D Botanical Embroidery & Stumpwork, How to Embroider Texture and Pattern, and DIY Embroidered Shoes.
Melissa was reintroduced to hand embroidery after her corporate job left her creatively unfulfilled. She loves that embroidery is like coloring with a needle and thread. Melissa found that many craft enthusiasts also wanted to learn how to embroider but were daunted by where to start. Thanks to this and a love of teaching, Melissa began to share her hand embroidery knowledge.
Melissa’s embroidery kits make it easy to learn a new craft for makers of all skill levels. She enjoys seeing makers fall in love with the needle arts, especially that magical ah-ha moment of learning something new.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I never say myself as a small business owner and sort of fell into running a business and now working for myself. Because of this, there has been a steep learning curve. When I first started, I had no idea how to price my artwork or how to even sell my artwork. Now, more than 10 years later I’ve switched from selling hand embroidered decor to kits and am balancing new challenges, like how to find reliable help on an irregular basis, scaling my small business, and how to balance my work and life.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in nature inspired embroidery. I love finding inspiration on walks with my dogs, travels with my husband, and being out in the world of plants and landscapes. Because of this and my love of teaching hand embroidery to others, I’ve had the opportunity to write three DIY embroidery books.
My first book, How to Embroider Texture and Pattern, features 20 landscape designs and lots of textural stitching. This book covers my signature style of using playful fabrics and a wide variety of stitches to create texture, depth, and movement within each landscape.
My second book, DIY Embroidered Shoes, is a primer in embroidering your own fabric shoes. For this book I pulled inspiration for the Pacific Northwest and childhood memories to create playful designs you can wear. I offer helpful tips and tricks for stitching on your footwear and use a wide variety of stitches to keep things interesting.
My third book, 3D Botanical Embroidery and Stumpwork, will be published October 2025. It’s a delightful exploration in stumpwork embroidery that you can make, wear, and display. This book will feature poisonous, medicinal, and carnivorous plants in ways you haven’t seen embroidered before and walk you through how to create them yourself.
All of my books include in-depth details, stitch glossaries, patterns, and so much more. They’ve been a joy to write and are works I’m beyond proud to share.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Drive and compassion are two important factors when working for yourself and being successful. I’ve found that you have to put yourself out there, constantly, to share who you are, what you do, and why others should take notice.
It’s also important to be kind, make small business friends along the way, and share resources (when applicable). My small business friends are some of my best friends and it’s been wonderful to see each others business grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mcreativej.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcreativej/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MCreativeJ
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mcreativej
- Other: https://pinterest.com/mcreativej
Image Credits
All photos courtesy of Melissa Galbraith of MCreativeJ.