Simply stitching

I found an uncompleted embroidery I was working on when I was cleaning my room and I decided to work on it again. It was supposed to be a sort of mini-comforter project that could be converted to a throw pillow which I saw from my boss, except what she bought just had a printed design. I have been asking her to bring it once more so I know where I could place the zipper for the conversion (from comforter to pillow) but she never brought it again saying she can’t remember where she placed it so I stopped working on it too. However, when I saw it again I felt the urge to sew and realized that I don’t have to use zipper but I could do something else to convert it still…

So I am back to working on the second panel of embroidery since only one panel is complete. I was planning 5 panels for it but I think I’ll just make it three. The embroidery is simple actually just a combination of back stitch and stem stitch and using only one color. See the first panel???



When I started working on it again I actually felt relaxed and joyful. My ten year old niece came to my room and watched me for a while then ask me for some cloth so she could sew too! So I gave her a cloth which she cut into small pieces and drew a design ( a heart) on one and asked me how and started sewing her own as I told her how to handle the cloth and hold the needle and thread. She’s still having difficulty but I’m sure in time if she is interested that she could handle it well.

I was telling her how both my grandmothers were good at sewing especially on darning. The way my paternal grandmother darned you won’t easily notice that the cloth was torn or had a hole. Her hand stitches were so fine that they blend with the cloth. My maternal grandmother was also good not just at darning but also sewing pieces together. When I would darn I would try my best to do it as well as them… some of my works were neat I think but theirs were still tops!

I was also telling my niece how I embroidered in college. I embroidered my pants, blouse (even my friends formal blouse), the bags I made… they were all just small stuff not really big and some of my embroidery looked like patches. Embroidered clothes and stuff was not the trend during my time but I like doing it… I thought I was unique then and by the time the trend came I was focused on other things but would smile as i remembered the works that i did.

Then there was a boom on cross stitching… almost every girl in the office (even a married boy) was crossstitching. Their patterns were neat and looked like paintings and some were huge works which they followed from a pattern. I enjoyed looking at their work but I wasn’t interested on making one. Somehow the work seemed too complex for me to appreciate, I still liked small designs which I would suit to what I need…

And now I’m back to simple stitchin. I am not in a hurry to finish my project but it is nice to feel joy while pushing and pulling the needle and thread. My eyes could not easily thread the needle anymore but just the thought of working on it again felt good!