I know it’s nearly Christmas, but before everyone winds down completely for the festive season I wanted to raise a couple of serious topics in this post…
AI and Hand Embroidery
The first you may already be aware of, (especially if you are a magazine reader as I wrote a more detailed article about this in the December Magazine), and that’s the impact of AI (artificial intelligence) on hand embroidery. Did you realise that the image at the top of this post isn’t actually real embroidery, but is an AI generated image? It’s really hard to tell sometimes, and is getting harder all the time.
When I first began Bustle & Sew, way back in 2009, I could never have envisaged that one day I’d be writing an article about AI and embroidery. Back then AI wasn’t a reality outside science fiction. I must admit I didn’t see this coming, having naively perhaps assumed that creative arts were a uniquely human activity and the design process was unlikely to be significantly impacted by technological advances.
I don’t want to tell you that AI in itself is good or bad – there are very many opinions from many “experts” who are happy to offer such advice. But I am concerned about the opportunities it offers to less scrupulous sellers to deceive their potential customers, and indeed a wider audience.
The “embroideries” above were generated using AI. All I had to do to create the rabbit was to type in the phrase “hand embroidered cute bunny with Easter egg and flowers” and 10-15 seconds later I had the result you see. The AI app used data from literally millions of images to create a final result that matched the description I entered.
At present it’s still relatively easy, when you look closely that is, to be able to identify an AI generated image. Look at the bear on the right. The stitches appear to be curved (not an effect I’ve ever managed to achieve), the embroidery itself is super-plump, appearing raised from the background and casting shadows across the design. The background fabric is strangely smooth and featureless. The whole image appears lush and totally perfect – not a single flaw in sight!
Yes, this is another AI generated image!
As I said at the beginning, I can’t tell you whether AI is good or bad in itself. What it is is easy and fast to use, which means that hundreds of images can be created very quickly indeed. This means that an AI user can open a new shop on Etsy (for example) and list a lot of patterns almost immediately. If they clearly state that their patterns were generated using AI, or even if they don’t but you’ve worked it out for yourself and still want to purchase the design, then that’s fine, it’s your decision, but I do recommend that you bear a few things in mind:
● The completed design doesn’t exist in the real world, so you’re unlikely to receive a detailed stitching guide or floss specifications. Indeed, some of the stitches you’re looking at may not even be possible to achieve (think of those curved lines in the teddy bear image). Sometimes you will be able to copy the image, but equally you may end up feeling very disappointed with your results.
● The person selling the pattern hasn’t actually stitched the sample image, so there won’t be any technical help available to you.
● AI designs are usually sold very cheaply (let’s face it there’s almost zero effort involved in creating them). They’re flooding the market and squeezing out genuine human designers whose patterns may never get seen as AI designs take up so much space in the search listings. It takes a lot of hard work (and often years of experience) to create a genuine “real-world” pattern that shares all the designer’s expertise and technical knowledge with the customer.
● AI raises the stitcher’s (particularly the novice stitcher’s) expectations to unrealistic levels as it is just about impossible to achieve the perfect results shown.
I do hope that this has given you a bit of an insight into AI embroidery images, and some helpful tips when you’re thinking about purchasing a new pattern including whether you want to take a chance on an AI design or not.
These are NOT AI generated images!
New GPSR rules for EU and NI customers
The EU’s new General Product Safety Regulations come into force on Friday 13 December replacing older safety compliance regulations. One important update is the requirement for all sellers to have a Responsible Person or representative based in the EU if they offer products for sale into the European Union or Northern Ireland.
The only physical items Bustle & Sew offers for sale are a limited selection of kits – currently the three shown above. To continue offering these for sale in the EU or NI and comply with the regulations I would have to find a provider offering EU compliance services – and also pay their invoices. Bustle & Sew is a tiny business, and to do this is simply uneconomic for me.
So, very regretfully, from next Friday 13 December I will no longer be able to offer current or future kits for sale to EU or NI customers.
The above kits are currently in stock over in my Etsy shop If you are in the European Union or Northern Ireland and had been planning to purchase one then please don’t delay as from the end of the week they will no longer be available to you. I will keep the situation under review and if things should change I will of course let you know.
Digital products and the Bustle & Sew Magazine are currently unaffected.
And finally..
I know this has been a bit of a serious post, so I will leave you with a photo that I hope will make you smile….
Yes it’s Rufus – the silliest (and smile-iest) Labrador in Cranmore!
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