We’ve covered many fantastically strange and unusual embroidered works on our blog over the years, but sporting equipment wins as the most unconventional choice. Cape Town, South Africa based VJ-photographer-textile artist Danielle Clough (who goes by “Fiance Knowles” on instagram) breathes new life into vintage wooden tennis rackets with her decorative embroideries. Her beautifully clever series titled “What a Racket” has nothing to do with tennis however (“Does this count as being interested in sport?” Clough jokes at her website.) Instead, she describes her work as a celebration of color, featuring florals like roses, tulips, and succulents like aloe, sewn onto classic Badminton rackets. She doesn’t use any canvas backing to support the threads, relying purely on the racket’s strings to hold and guide her cross-stitched designs. As a dedicated artist to her craft, Clough was always on the look out to try new things, and first chose the rackets because they were readily available at her local flea market. Each flower design offers a different meaning or symbol as well; tulips for instance, the most expensive flower of the 1600s, were considered more valuable than people’s homes and epitomize extravagant beauty, while the vibrant Protea, a South African flowering plant and one of Clough’s favorites to embroider, represents her home country. Take a look at more of Danielle Clough’s unique embroideries below.
"I love bodies," says artist 
Creating under the name “ffembroidery,” 
The lifesized crocheted and knitted figures made by Finland artist