Slow stitch

 Hello everyone

I have discovered a belated love of textiles and in particular sewing!  I know, it’s crazy right?  I spent most of my life believing that I hated sewing and tried to avoid it at every opportunity.  Now I love it.  I think I know the reason… time.  Before I had so much to do and so little time that sewing was a chore simply because you have to slow down and take time.  Now that I have retired I have plenty of time and can enjoy things that in the past I didn’t have time for.

Slow stitch is needlework with intention or mindfulness.  You take your time and breathe, relax and mellow out.  You enter an almost meditative state and really enjoy taking time out.  It’s beautiful.

It all began at college when I made a piece of felt fabric and used it as support for my applique shapes. As you can see I used running stitch to secure the shapes.  From there I looked for other projects where I could use my newfound skill of sewing.


Anyway, I have discovered that hand stitching is my new love and in particular using slow stitch and scraps of fabric to create interesting and new projects.  It’s a way of upcycling if you use preloved or worn fabric.  Now I don’t waste any fabric as even small scraps can be used and made into something useable.

It’s almost like patchwork where you piece together small bits of fabric to make a larger more useable size material. Also, you don’t have to be all neat and tidy, unless you want to of course.  Messiness equals charm and character.  Just my cup of tea!

Here I made a needle holder out of scraps.  I am just beginning to learn different embroidery stitches, so mostly in this piece I have just used running stitch.  This is the easiest and most basic stitch.





I really enjoyed making this and particularly because it uses up scraps and recycled fabrics.  I will definitely be doing more of this kind of stitching.

Overall, I am so enjoying the college course, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.  Returning to college in my later years was a bit daunting at first but I’m so happy that I went for it and I’m learning so much.

Best wishes

Shari

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