Modernizing a Lost Art with Lacy Van Court and Die Trying TX

This feature is part of #MadeToCreate, a new series highlighting our community of entrepreneurs, makers and artisans on Instagram.

If Lacy Van Court had a soundtrack to her life, Guy Clark would be the headliner. She named her business Die Trying TX (@dietryingtx) after one of his songs. “It’s kind of cheesy, but ‘Die Tryin’ is a beautiful song, and I think it sums up my general feeling about life — to try really hard,” says Lacy, who lives in Austin, Texas. The way she makes a living is a product of this feeling. Lacy taught herself the “lost art” of chain stitch embroidery over the course of a few years, working with a vintage machine she bought online, until she created designs she would wear. Once she started posting items for sale, Lacy took her followers’ feedback seriously. “A month or two after I started my account, I launched a line of jackets on my website. This was a result of the feedback I was getting and the images people liked most,” she says. “It’s been a whirlwind since.”

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