Sharing photos of needlework you’ve stitched

Continuing on from my previous posts about Pinterest and copyright, you may have been thinking, “Well, what if I take a photo of the embroidery I’ve just completed, and it wasn’t my design? Is that ok?”

I’m not a lawyer. My advice therefore is as someone who wants to respect others and give credit where credit is due.

If you’ve stitched something, you’re right to want to celebrate that. Taking a photo of what you’ve made and sharing it with others so that they can celebrate with you is a lovely thing to do. I would go ahead and do it!

If the design is yours, you have every right to share that photo, and even the design, if you wish.

If the design is not yours, it would be courteous and respectful to credit the designer.

I have people who send me photos of their completed work, of my designs. With their permission (because they hold the rights to the photograph), I share these photos on my social media etc, crediting them as the stitcher. It goes both ways!

An example of Jane’s beautiful stitching that she gave me permission to share. These are designs from my book, “Portuguese Whitework”.

I know of at least one designer who does not generally allow photos of her own work to be shared. And if it is shared, she carefully curates what and how much is shared, and where. This is her right. I think her caution is because if the photograph shows enough detail, there is concern that someone could reproduce the design from the photograph alone.

This is certainly a concern. In some instances, this would indeed be possible, and we designers are counting on people to respect our rights and instead purchase the design.

However, from my point of view, most of my designs are not just designs only. Particularly in my books, you’re not just purchasing my designs, but you’re purchasing the detailed instructions with which to make them. In my books, you’re also purchasing background information about the style of the embroidery and its cultural context.

And then, a designer has to weigh up something else. Is the free publicity worth it? To most of us, it is definitely worth it for stitchers to be posting photos of their stitching of our work (if we are credited!).

It is generally accepted that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, so I’m very happy for you to do this. But mostly, I’m happy for you to celebrate your achievements!