COZY x Pixel Stitch: Hand Embroidered Tees

Printed in Karachi, stitched by hand

The COZY x Pixel Stitch collection is two embroidered tees, the Sardines & Lemon Tee and the Summer on the Inside Tee, each screen printed in Karachi and then finished with details cross stitched by hand. Pixel Stitch is a Pakistani studio that works with women cross stitch artisans and turns their craft into modern pixel art, and the artisans are paid directly for their work on this collection. Only 40 pieces were made, in 220 GSM COZY Cotton, and every order comes with a free limited edition COZY bag in butter yellow and a thank-you video from one of the artisans.

Learn more about the collab here: Inside COZY x Pixel Stitch: Two Tees Stitched by Hand

COZY x Pixel Stitch: Hand Embroidered Tees

2 products

Who Pixel Stitch are

Pixel Stitch began in Gilgit. Its founder, Hasan Habib, visited the Prince Barkat Foundation there and met women doing intricate floral cross stitch that had no market.

Pixel Stitch kept the technique and changed the designs. Cross stitch is built on a grid, with one small X in each square, the same way a screen image is built from pixels. That overlap is the whole idea behind the studio. The women's hand embroidery is turned into modern pixel art, like the stitched frames we first saw at Mashion. The point is for the artisans to earn from a skill they already have, and Pixel Stitch is working toward 1,000 women artisans across Pakistan.

How this collection came to be

We found Pixel Stitch at Mashion in Karachi and bought one of their frames as a gift. We kept thinking about it after the bazaar, so we got in touch and asked if they would make something with us.

We wanted to put their work on something you wear every day. The collection started from one idea: keeping summer with you after the season ends. Our designer drew two tees. One has a tin of sardines with lemon on the side, and the other has a beach scene on the back. Pixel Stitch mapped the parts meant for thread onto a grid, square by square, and matched each colour to their thread book. We kept to four colours: blue, orange, white and lemon yellow.

We cut, sewed and screen printed the tees in Karachi. Each artisan then received a packet with the pattern and the exact threads for her piece. She stitched through dissolvable cloth laid over the tee, using a double thread so the stitches sit close and full. A wash took the cloth away and left the stitching in the cotton.

Each embroidered tee takes time, so we made 40 pieces across the collection, and there won't be a restock. The artisans are paid directly for their work on it. Your order comes with a thank-you video from one of them, along with a free limited edition COZY bag in butter yellow.

See each piece up close: the sardine t-shirt and the summer t-shirt. For more from COZY, browse the Summer Collection and the Core Collection.

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