What started as a personal challenge for Tucson textile artist Jason Williamson has blossomed into a creative passion and a growing community of embroidery hobbyists.
Williamson, who creates whimsical, hand-embroidered works of art, said he picked up the craft five years ago through a game of Dungeons & Dragons.
“Embroidery was not something that I ever thought I was going to do,” he said. “I was playing D&D and my Dungeon Master and I had a little bit of a disagreement. My character did embroidery as a hobby, because I wanted this cute little cottagecore type hobby for this cottagecore type character, and I was like, ‘I think they can do this fast.’ So I got myself a kit and embroidered it with a certain goal of ‘this is how quick it has to be done for this character to reasonably be able to do this much more complicated thing.’”
After that, Williamson said he kept up the hobby as a way to pass time during games.
“I found out that it's a really great activity to do while I'm waiting for my turn in combat in D&D,” he said. “Because when I'm on my phone, I'm not listening as much.”
Having a creative outlet, he found, also stopped him from mindlessly scrolling on his phone and wasting time doom scrolling.
“I don't find myself doing that anymore because I am stitching with my hands usually, and then I have like a YouTube video or something going on on the TV as background noise,” Williamson said.
Jason Williamson is a hand embroidery artist and works out of his garage at his home in Tucson, Ariz., on October 14, 2026. Williamson works on an embroidery for a workshop he will teach at Di Luna Candles + Goods. He’s adding a quote by JRR. Tolkien from The Lord of the Rings “Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.”
Little by little, Williamson taught himself the various stitches and techniques through online tutorials. He said TikTok’s short-form, repetitive format was most ideal for learning embroidery because he could rewatch a video over and over again until he got it right.
“I found that YouTube tutorials are not always made for the phone format,” Williamson said. “TikTok is made to be seen on a small screen, so it's zoomed in.”
He and his wife Angel own Lunar Flare Studios together, and Williamson said the two of them create the embroidery designs collaboratively. Angel draws the line art digitally which Williamson then prints on a water soluble stabilizer, and stitches over, leaving the outline for his work.
“Then I wash it off, and we go to Michael's and take the picture that she drew and hold thread up to it to match colors,” Williamson said.
As their studio name suggests, many of their designs are celestial-inspired, often featuring stars or ravens, and they make everything from iron-on patches to detailed portraits and decor pieces.
“My wife and I are very sun-and-moon-themed,” he said. “I like going towards the witchy a little bit. I've found that my core demographic is people that are kind of a little bit witchy.”
Some of his more technical work are his D&D character portraits, in which he uses embroidery almost like a paintbrush to build details and add colors and lighting to his subject’s clothes, face, hair and environment.
For Williamson, part of the fun of embroidery is sharing it with others, and he currently offers classes every other Tuesday at Tucson Games & Gadgets, the first Wednesday of each month with the Caffeine Caldron at the Tucson Mall and once a month at their Marana location.
He also teaches a class at Di Luna Candles on the first Saturday of every month, with all new pattern designs. Most of the classes cost only $30 and include the pattern and supplies.
“I started teaching the classes because I wanted a reason to get a bunch of people together to enjoy the thing that I really like doing,” Williamson said.
The classes, he said, are meant to be as beginner friendly as possible. Students pick a pattern kit of their choosing, complete with step-by-step instructions for the stitches, and Williamson is available to help along the way while they work at their own pace.
“There's video instructions. There's written instructions, and there's pattern guides and everything,” he said. “If you have never threaded a needle before my workshop, and that's what you can do by the end of two hours, I'm happy, and you are more confident in yourself.”
He said he hopes his classes help people discover a new interest and unlock their own creativity.
One of Jason Williamson’s hand embroidery of a stained-glass window with fabric markers used to color in the “glass.”
“The main thing I've tried to show people is that you can take these five stitches, go grab a pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, or something, and you already have the hoop,” Williamson said. “It's really about practice.”
Mostly, Williamson said, he wants to encourage people to slow down, create something with their hands, and make meaningful connections.
“Really big classes are really fun, and a lot of people get to experience the hobby and then some of those people really love it, and they become part of the smaller group that are almost always there,” he said. “There’s a mom and a daughter who now come to each of the classes as a way to hang out together.”
On Oct. 24, Williamson will also be taking part in a special Women Play DND’s real life shopping episode. The event will take place from 3-8 p.m. at Catalyst Creative Collective, 4500 N. Oracle Road, and attendees will enjoy a night of free fantasy-inspired arts and crafts, D&D activities, food and drinks, and much more.
“I'm gonna be one of the NPCs as part of the mystery that people are solving and I’ll be passing out kits,” he said. “It's a little sticker thing, so you can either put it straight onto a piece of clothing, or it'll come with a piece of felt and iron-on stuff if you want it turned into an iron-on patch.”
