Embroidering The World Cup

It’s not often that football fans and embroidery enthusiasts cross paths, but with BBC’s 2018 World Cup campaign they do. To promote this worldwide event, the famous broadcasting company commissioned an original film that combines the arts of embroidery and animation to celebrate iconic moments throughout football history. 

Every frame of this remarkable film has been individually embroidered, and will come together to form a real tapestry after the tournament. Created by Xander Hart and Edward Usher at BBC Creative, and directed by Nicos Livesey through Blinkink, the idea for the film first came to life after the artists watched the 2017 film Loving Vincent, which depicts the life of Vincent Van Gogh through animated oil paintings in the artist’s distinct style.



More than 227,000 metres of thread were used to make over 600 unique frames of tapestry, and if laid end-to-end they would measure over 1,200 metres in length. Long after the tournament ends, the tapestry will live on as evidence of the passion that can bring together art in whatever form, be it sports, embroidery, or fandom itself.