Hiroko Kubota stitching tiny portraits of cats into collared shirts

Hiroko Kubota is an artist who specializes in the art of embroidery. She is known for her work highlighting cats, which she began about a decade ago.

Stitched onto collared shirts and other garments, the Nara-based artist’s portraits are cleverly placed to depict furry faces peering over the edge of a pocket and sometimes, attempting to climb out from their garment confines. Since she started the designs about a decade ago, Kubota has embroidered hundreds of characters, each with their distinct personalities and mischievous expressions.

The internet has fallen in love with Hiroko Kubota works, and hundreds of people have shared images of her creations on social media sites like Instagram.

If you are an animal lover and like to sew, then you will find these works utterly charming. Even if you don’t stitch though, these designs will surely please those who do have a passion for crafting, stitching, and cute little animals. Getting to the end of the post will be time well spent.

What I love about Kubota’s work with cats is that she seems to have a personal relationship with them. One gets the impression that she knows each cat personally and has observed their individual behaviors, which makes her portraits so realistic and amusing.

Kubota’s designs make an already adorable creature look even cuter, which may be the point. These subtle, visual puns are great ways to make a T-shirt with an otherwise standard design into something a bit more unique! It’s also clear that these embroidered portraits of cats aren’t just for showing off one’s love for felines; they’re also a playful exploration of the effect of familiar objects on one’s perception.