Several years ago my mother gave me some embroidery kits and embroidery floss that she had stored away. I wasn't much into needle work of any kind and the few times I tried I was always a little frustrated that I was so bad at it. Recently, though, I have been craving doing something creative and have had little or no time to do anything in the studio. By the time I get home from work, I just want to enjoy the few precious hours I have with my daughter and husband. But I know I have a deep need to make things so I was thinking about my commute of nearly two hours a day and what I could do to sort of turn the subway into a moving studio.
Something made me think of a kit my mother had given me - a set of pillowcases with a floral pattern printed on and ready to embroider so I thought I'd take it with me and try it out. The first day was pretty funny. Having just turned forty I felt like a little old biddy - especially when I propped my red magnifying glasses on the tip of my nose (there's no way I could see those tiny stitches otherwise). Anyway, I was feeling a little shy about it until I glanced to my right and saw a 30-something year old guy with a mohawk knitting a scarf. You have to love New York.
As I made my way through the project I found myself falling in love with this medium. It is such a relaxing process and more and more I realize how much I love any work that requires a kind of peaceful repetition and attention to detail. That being said, I did have a few moments of frustration at my lack of skill. Most of this was cross stitch which was pretty easy but anything more than that (satin stitch and especially the stem stitch) was a challenge.
Once I finished I started thinking back to my previous attempt at adding emroidery to paper cuts and decided to try again with this little experiment.
It was just the right size to take with me and, though I wasn't completely thrilled with it, I learned a lot about what you can and can't do with paper and stitching. I'm thinking of trying paint and emroidery on canvas next. I feel like there are many more possibilities there.
Have a great weekend,
- Ereisa :)
