{"id":704760,"date":"2026-06-15T03:52:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T03:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/704760\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T03:52:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T03:52:32","slug":"the-new-york-artist-embroidering-knicks-merch-on-the-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/704760\/","title":{"rendered":"The New York Artist Embroidering Knicks Merch on the Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday night, the New York Knicks<\/a> beat the San Antonio Spurs to win the team\u2019s first NBA championship in 53 years. As the Knicks celebrated on the court in San Antonio, the city that never sleeps lived up to its name<\/a>, partying in honor of the Knickerbockers.<\/p>\n

Amid the melee in the streets was Ramell-Correen Frederick, known to his friends as \u201cCheeks.\u201d He was sitting outside the Habana Outpost restaurant on Fulton and South Portland in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, working away on a vintage embroidery machine. Cheeks, a textile artist and denim tailor by trade, spent all night making custom championship gear for anyone who happened upon him. Requests ranged from the simple \u201c2026 Champs\u201d to slogans like \u201cSend the Spurs to the Knick-U,\u201d his fee starting at a modest $20.<\/p>\n

Photos and videos<\/a> of Cheeks and his work soon began making the rounds on social media. New Yorkers took off their hats, their jackets, their jerseys, or anything else they happened to have on and handed them over for Cheeks to embroider, as a way of marking the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go wherever the people are,\u201d Cheeks told Vogue of his decision to set up a tiny table outside the local watch party. His embroidery is artwork, it is community work, it is care work, all at once.<\/p>\n

Cheeks\u2019s embroidery company is called Tattoo\u2019d Cloth<\/a>, and people commission him through DM, email, \u201cor honestly, just finding me in the streets,\u201d he says. A Queens native who has lived in Brooklyn since 2008, he has been in the fashion industry for 23 years, working in operational jobs before he taught himself to sew and learned about garment construction. \u201cI found embroidery in 2007 and once I found it, I was able to really just go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Vogue spoke to Cheeks about his work and the experience of helping New Yorkers celebrate the Knicks\u2019 big win.<\/p>\n

Vogue: Can you tell me about what you do, and how people generally encounter you?<\/p>\n

Ramell-Correen Frederick: When people find me outside, I call that my \u201cgoing rogue.\u201d It\u2019s a small 3×2 table with my embroidery machine on top of it. I put it on the dolly and literally just push it through Brooklyn or Manhattan and set up on any corner that seems appropriate. I have a power setup that travels with me, and it\u2019s super convenient. People can either give me something that they\u2019re wearing or get something that I might be carrying on me. When you see me outside, I\u2019m honestly just taking this moment to use my surroundings as inspiration and as my current art studio.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Photo: Courtesy of Ramell-Correen “Cheeks” Frederick<\/p>\n

My machine is a 104-year-old hand-crank, chainstitch embroidery machine. The version that I was on last night is my Singer 114w103 model. Her name is Jessica. I\u2019ve been using her for nine years now. I have two other ones: a longarm model from France\u2014she\u2019s 124 years old; her name is Bertha, because she\u2019s huge\u2014and I have an international model, an Indian-made model. Her name is Story. I got her last year.<\/p>\n

I love working on them. The process is analog. From me designing, whether it be [with] pen and paper or using my digital creative devices, then to drawing it onto the article of clothing or printing it out, and then stitching it literally one stitch at a time. The process is very therapeutic. It can take anywhere from 60 seconds to write a name to my longest piece being 48 hours, which is a 24×36-inch tribute to Chadwick Boseman.<\/p>\n