My introduction to stitching wasn’t embroidery, it was cross stitch, which is why I have such admiration for cross stitchers - I *know* it involves a lot of patience and precision with which I’m just not so naturally blessed. I once made a friend a cross stitched gift, but I gave it to her unfinished - she said she actually liked it wasn’t finished because it reminded her of my true personality (ouch!).
When I finally dug out those supplies from under my bed and gave embroidery a try, I started stitching only to see if I could finish something, anything. I didn’t know there was already a community of stitchers just waiting for new people to join, I didn’t even totally understand what Instagram or Pinterest were, I just wanted to find something I could finish.
Embroidery was somehow easier and harder than I thought it would be, and the mistakes I made felt like they could be on purpose (versus glaring examples of how much I sucked at everything I tried). Finishing that first project gave me a greater sense of accomplishment than I expected but looking back, that sense of accomplishment makes sense - I was not in a good place! I hadn’t finished a lot of big and small life things! I couldn’t finish anything, as evidenced by my friend who I gave that present to that one time! But LOOK! I finished something! It was small, but it was finished.
I totally think that embroidery can be an incredible entryway into feelings of accomplishment, into developing patience for yourself, and realizing that mistakes can be there for a reason. That’s what’s kept me stitching for as long as I have, and that’s what motivates me to urge other people to give it a try.
Image description: Hope is holding a blue embroidery hoop in her left hand that has, “I totally finished something!” stitched in yellow, surrounded by green, blue, yellow, and pink pastels. In the background is a green wall with hoops of varying sizes, colors, and designs.
(P.S. The hoop in the header for this blog post is the project for the March 2020 box, a monthly subscription box I curate and ship. I made just a few extra kits for this project, which you can find here.)
