Needle and Thread

The problem with working in a library (or the good thing, depending on how you look at it) is that I come across many books that I would not usually see. Wardrobe Embroidery, pictured above, is a perfect example. If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago whether I was interested in embroidery I would have said no. However, then someone returned Wardrobe Embroidery, I flipped through it after discharging it, and now I am deep in a rabbit hole of embroidery stitches and needle sizes. I am not interested in doing embroidery projects to hang on my wall but I am all about embroidering little flowers on the pockets of my jeans or making tiny pins to put on my lanyard. A coworker requested the same book and she wants to embroider onto her knitting projects as shown on the cover of Wardrobe Embroidery. The same coworker has recently started a knitting YouTube channel. You should check it out. Her projects are so pretty.

All three of the books in the photo are good for absolute beginners like me. They all discuss the basics of embroidery, teach a few simple stitches, and then show how to combine those stitches into beautiful patterns. Some of the projects are way too advanced for me but they all have elements I can use and learn from. They all also have templates that can be used if you want to replicate a pattern exactly.

My first few attempts at embroidery were frustrating and pretty pathetic, to be honest. I am not naturally good at crafty-type things and it takes a lot of work for me to figure things like this out. I also don’t do much sewing beyond the odd button repair or mended seam so I was starting from a very low standard. However, I persevered. I made my whole family admire the first recognizable pattern I managed to produce. It was a flower. It was supposed to be a poppy and my husband kindly admired my beautiful rose but I am counting it as a success because at least he recognized it as a flower.

Since I am mainly interested in embellishing clothing and such I am not working with premade patterns. I need to draw my own or work freehand on the item. Have I mentioned that I can’t draw at all? Well, I can’t. I am persevering though and my daughter, who is very good at drawing is giving me advice. Would you like to see the one actual useful thing I embroidered this past weekend? Of course you would. This whole post is made because I want you to admire it.

I bought a $4.00 tote bag at JOANN Fabric because I thought I wouldn’t care too much if this turned out to be a disaster. But I don’t think it is a disaster at all. I actually am really proud of it as long as no one looks at the reverse side. I drew (!!!) the stack of books and the teacup and then used a few basic stitches. Isn’t it pretty? I brought it to work yesterday and carried my latest haul of embroidery books home in it. Last night I watched a tutorial that showed me a better way to start and end my threads so the next project should be neater on the reverse. I think I am going to embroider some flowers on a shirt next. If it comes out reasonably well I shall post it here in order to garner admiration.