Swedish Sewing Machine producer turns well-known “Hummel drawings” into embroidery designs

German artist Berta Hummel, known as Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, created the beloved “Hummel Children” drawings during her most productive time in the 1930s. The rights to those pictures are owned by the Franciscan Convent in Saulgau, Bavaria, where Sr. M. Innocentia entered the sisterhood upon completion of her studies at the Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in Munich. In 1934, the W. Goebel Porcelain Factory began working with Sr. .M. Innocentia to transform her pictures into the little porcelain figurines that are collectibles around the world today.

After long and careful negotiations, VSM Group AB, Pfaff’s parent company in Sweden, obtained the rights to convert these drawings into beautiful and detailed embroideries. The ability of the Top-of-the Line Pfaff sewing machines to exactly reproduce the most intricate embroideries greatly impressed Sister Anja Popp at the Convent in Germany. - Many “test embroideries” were sent between Huskvarna and the Convent in Saulgau before final approval. The Convent wanted the embroideries to have the same innocent charm as the pictures and figurines, says Hans-Peter Hindrikson, Embroidery Designs at VSM Group AB. In addition, it is very important that the colours are reproduced in exactly the right way. The colours that Sr. M. Innocentia used were reserved and uncomplicated, chosen with a lot of feeling. It was essential to find embroidery thread that conveyed the exact same feeling. Sadly, Sister Maria Innocentia was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in the early 1940s. She never recovered from the illness and died at the age of 37. Her life and work were influenced by the impressions she absorbed while growing up in the small town of Massing by the river Rot in Bavaria. That influence came through in her relations with people, as all through her life she was open, easy-going and caring toward others. She was particularly good with the children and used them as the models for her now famous little pictures. -We are very pleased with the trust we have been given by the Convent and we believe that we have been able to transform the drawings into embroideries in a way that Sister Maria Innocentia would have accepted and liked, Hans-Peter Hindrikson concludes. For more information contact Hans-Peter Hindrikson, EDS Manager, +46-36-147370, +46-(0)70-699 37 00