What I Learned in 10 Years of Doing Embroidery
This craft is more useful than you think
I started doing embroidery when I was 13 years old and I never imagined that 10 years later it would still be a major part of my life. I was at the beach, looking for something to read with my mum when we found a crafts magazine called “Handmade” and I was instantly drawn to it. My mum is a very skilled seamstress, knitter, and she also does a lot of crochet work. But at the time, apart from hand-sewing out of necessity and a bit of weaving, I had had no practice whatsoever in any of the crafts advertised in the magazine.
I was immediately drawn to the cross-stitch section, where beautiful, embroidered items were displayed in the most serene sceneries. I was blown away by how functional it all looked too. There weren’t only framed embroideries, but tablecloths, baby clothes, and accessories, throws, decorations, handbags, and more, all beautifully decorated with colorful and vibrant cross-stitch patterns. I asked my mum if she knew how to cross-stitch, which of course she did, and once we got home we went to buy all the necessary materials: Aida fabric, embroidery thread, a hoop, and needles.
Years of perfecting my technique followed. I had vigorous, harsh, but extremely skilled teachers: my great-grandma, my auntie, and my granny. Of all of them…
