Fiber artist Paris King can claim a long family connection to the most tactile of visual arts. “My beloved grandfather Monty, our family historian, once said his great-uncle was part of Singer Sewing back in the day,” King relates. “My great-grandmother Gladys lived in Hickory and worked in a hosiery mill, and then later upholstered cars. Clients would drive from all over to have her work on their cars.” Paris has been carrying on the family’s textile history with a growing line of one of a kind chain stitch embroidery that’s drawn both an online client base and a steady stream of customers at her Saluda studio, Milkweed. “My mom taught me how to sew when I was seven,” Paris says; and while she’s created work in other mediums – painting, pottery, pastry arts – embroidery remains her favored creative outlet.

“There’s something about working with thread that’s most enjoyable to me,” she says. “It’s nearly become a lost skill to sew and mend; sewing was once something most were once taught to do.” Paris is an advocate for mending and repurposing clothing as an alternative to the vast amount of resources spent to support the fast fashion industry. Paris sources second hand and vintage garments for her embroidery, and encourages clients to bring in well loved items from their closet to have embroidered. “I think we need to better normalize buying items we truly love, that are also made to last, and local whenever possible.” she says. “The amount of resources that go into the garment industry, particularly fast fashion, is extremely detrimental to our environment.” Paris’ expertise is in chain stitch embroidery and works on an antique chain stitch machine from the 1930s. 

Unlike today’s modern computerized embroidery methods, she uses this machine to guide the direction of the thread with a hand crank and pedal. “I draw up everything by hand, then choose a color palette in thread,” she explains. “Careful practice and maintenance must go into every facet of this marvelous way of embroidering. Each piece takes time and lots of love. Going in a circle with the hand crank allows you to overlap each stitch to create a filled area and then you can go back over with detail work. It’s very much like drawing or tattooing with thread. “ “It requires a lot of oil to maintain in its proper working order,” she notes, adding that as a left-handed stitcher in a right-handed world, she’s had to reconfigure the machine to essentially run backwards. She currently has another antique machine being restored for her, one that will allow her to embroider hard to reach places, like hats, sleeves, back pockets and pant legs.

Paris grew up on the Carolina coast, in Charleston, but has deep family roots in the mountains, particularly Burnsville, where her Charleston-based grandparents had a mountain house near family.  Here she spent summers barefoot the creek, hiking in the woods, picking wildflowers, and visiting art markets with her grandmother. These fond memories in nature still inspire the imagery in her embroidery work today. The name of her brand, Milkweed, comes from the host plant of the Monarch butterfly, which thrived near her family’s mountain home. “My heart has always been in these mountains.” She found herself missing time for an artistic outlet while juggling her career in a high volume Charleston salon. She began signing up for local weekend markets and brought her chain stitch machine along with a rack of her embroidered garments and hand made patches. 

When grandfather Monty passed three years ago “it turned my world upside down,” she remembers. “He always reminded me of what’s truly important in life.” Ready for their next chapter together, Paris and her husband, the photographer Paul King, bid the coast goodbye and found themselves in Saluda. “I love small town life and this wonderful community, and the nature that surrounds it” she says. While she stays busy with custom chain stitch commissions, “I’ve had the pleasure to work on a lot of bridal and bridesmaids jackets and custom bandanas. These often have an array of floral embroidery which is a specialty of mine.” Paris found time to embroider an emerald green wedding suit adorned with travel memories for her husband and their elopement last fall. Her time recently has been spent working on designing embroidered merch for local businesses in Asheville and the surrounding area. She produces a few ready to wear embroidered garments monthly in addition to client commissions.