I focus on creating sensory textiles using digital embroidery with embedded sensors and jacquard weaving, aiming to evoke emotional comfort and connection within transient interior spaces.
Threaded Echoes is a multi-sensory textile design project that explores the emotional weight of homesickness. It aims to recreate the comforting presence of ‘home’ through tactile, visual, and auditory elements, offering emotional grounding in transient urban living environments.
Rooted in personal memories—such as the warmth of my mother’s voice, the textures of household fabrics, and the layered sounds of city life—the project translates these sensory impressions into textile patterns. These memories are not just visual references, but emotional triggers that shape the narrative of each design.
By combining digital embroidery with embedded sensors and jacquard weaving, the project emphasises the importance of sensory experience and functionality in textile design. These interactive and comforting textiles are designed not only to furnish a space but to soothe, respond, and emotionally connect with those who inhabit it.
Moodboard
Material and Application board
Key Words: Homesickness, Emotional Textiles, Digital Embroidery, Jacquard Weaving, Interactive fabric, Comforting Space, Furnishing Design
This digital embroidery collection is inspired by childhood memories—particularly the joyful movements of children playing, running, and jumping, which symbolise freedom and emotional lightness. To reflect this, I avoided creating fixed patterns; instead, I embroidered on yarns using water-soluble fabric, allowing the threads to move freely once washed. I then hand-dyed the yarns, with colours carefully chosen based on how different hues influence mood and emotion.
Each piece is embedded with a sound and presence sensor—when someone stands near the fabric for more than five seconds, it gently plays recordings of my mother’s voice, repeating phrases she often said to comfort and support me. The final pieces, designed for curtain applications, aim to evoke a sense of warmth, memory, and emotional grounding through both movement and sound.
This jacquard weaving collection is inspired by my hometown, Hong Kong—its dense architecture, iconic flag elements, and distinctive urban patterns, as well as personal memories from my childhood home. I drew from details like the tiled floor, decorative window grills, and the textured sofa fabric patched by my mother with thread.
The collection is designed for interior furnishing applications—such as sofas, chairs, cushions, and even soft tableware. Each woven piece is intended to offer a sense of place, comfort, and memory within contemporary living spaces.
Jacquard 01
Jacquard 02
Jacquard 03
Jacquard 04
