Stitchin' It Old School

December 03, 2003

Ed Evans isn't a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses kind of guy. He tools around Hobart, Ind., in a 1956 Pontiac. His "other" car is a 1972 Trans Am. And when he goes to work digitizing technically flawless, jaw-dropping designs, he does so with 15-year-old software and a board.


There's no need to change to the latest technical innovation just for change's sake, Evans says. He's good at what he does with what he has, and, in the end, isn't that all that matters?


"I like to stick with what I have," says Evans, who gets by just fine with his Brother 416A singlehead. "I've had this one machine for five years and never had a problem with it.


"Everything I do is freehand drawn; I don't use any clip art. And it's the same thing with digitizing: no stock lettering."


Evans got a taste for success by winning a pair of awards in EMB Honors 2002 for his stunning designs. Then his Graphics Pit Stop, Hobart, Ind., really cleaned up in this year's IMPRESSIONS Awards, capturing first place in Decorating on Caps, Outstanding Digitizing and Singlehead Embroidery, and third place in Outstanding Design/Embroidery and Outstanding Digitizing. Not bad for a guy who has never taken the time to learn Photoshop.


Evans is a master at creating depth through density and color blending. Using stitch direction to catch the light in different ways also adds more dimension, Evans says.


"I use a lot of different directions," he says. "I try to use as many colors as I can. My designs have a lot of stops in them. Some people don't like that. But some people are totally happy with more stops and better detail.


"The better the detail and more color blending, the better they look in the end."


Evans doesn't get many complaints. Ever since the 16-year veteran decided to break out on his own five years ago, most of his clients have been smaller embroidery shops looking to make names for themselves. Evans obliges with designs that surpass the ordinary in the modern era of scan-point-and-click digitizing.


Evans' main European client, MI-Design, Denmark, also gives him free reign to create designs where the emphasis is on quality, whether its for motorcycle clubs or racing teams. "Every job is a challenge from them," he says. "Some people don't care. They want it and they want it yesterday, and if it doesn't look the best, they'll be doing something else tomorrow anyway.


"Just about everything I drive is pre-1970 and everything around here is antique and built to last. And that's the way I do my job."


Still, you can't expect a highly successful digitizer and embroiderer to stay with the status quo forever. Evans says he has designs on adding another singlehead and possibly moving into a retail location within the next two years.


The artist at heart also is experimenting with some bold mixed media work that he hopes to one day see displayed in art galleries. This may be what excites Evans the most -- even if, ironically, one such design (involving a mallard embroidered on an actual photograph) was the only entrant that didn't place in this year's Impressions Awards competition.


"I was the kid drawing circles when everybody else was drawing triangles in math," he says. "I guess I always wanted to do my own thing."

Ed Evans
Graphics Pit Stop
7037 Grand Blvd.
Hobart, IN 46342
219-942-4749
www.graphicspitstop.com