Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.
-Lucas, Empire Records
I started embroidering in 2006. When I moved back to New Orleans following my evacuation during Hurricane Katrina, I needed something to do with my time. While I was keeping a somewhat "normal" schedule - work, laundry at the laundromat, occasional dinners or happy hours with friends who came back - so much was still very alien and weird. Lots of places were closed, and many never reopened. There was a constant feeling of uncertainty and unease. The National Guard was still around. It felt empty, so I looked for a new hobby. I found embroidery.
My first kit came from Sublime Stitching. The whimsical patterns attracted me to the site, and it was very easy to follow. I sew and cross stitch, which definitely helped. (But is not necessary - if you want to embroider, but don't sew, you can do it. I promise.) Jenny Hart, the company founder and an amazing embroidery artist, was my first embroidery teacher (not in person, of course). Her patterns and calm voice (in her writing style) kept me going. I could create adorable things with a few basic stitches. After mastering the back stitch, stem stitch, and split stitch, I ventured on, learning more advanced stitches (still learning), and eventually began making my own patterns. I make things for friends and family and myself. I dabble in craftivism. I'm always learning new things about embroidery and its importance.
The pandemic has changed so many things, and will continue to do so in 2021. I'm an introvert, so the idea of staying home and not socializing isn't that terrible for me, in a big picture sort of way. Back in March, when we thought we'd stay at home for a few months and get things under control, I was ready to do my part and be a responsible person. I didn't want to get sick and I didn't want to be responsible for anyone getting sick. Yes, I missed my social outlets, but I'd rather miss them for a time than not have them at all. This doesn't mean that the stress of the pandemic didn't impact me, it does all the time, but my natural inclination toward staying home helped. I created new routines, started working from home, and started thinking of ways to occupy my time and help combat the stress.
Once again, I turned to embroidery. I've spent most of 2020 embroidering. I completed 41 pieces, originals mostly, but also a few patterns from other artists, including Jenny Hart. Five of my original pieces inspired the series, "The Screams," which I turned into a project to encourage good citizenship (30 individual pieces are included in the project). I made thank you cards to accompany each "Scream," (an additional 30 pieces) and I made two dozen hand-stitched postcards. In total, I made 125 individual pieces in 2020. I learned three new stitches (French knot, moonrise rose, and fly), and I revisited three stitches I missed using (stem, chain, and satin). I fell in love with stitching leaves. (Seriously, what is more soothing than making a leaf?) Embroidery, and the process of creating, kept me going in 2020.
So then I got to thinking: what would I make in 2021? I have ideas for projects in my normal world of embroidery; fun, whimsical things and more political things, and those will get done at some point. But I wanted something grander, more of a challenge. I have no idea where the idea came from, but I woke up one morning with the notion of creating one embroidery piece each day in 2021. As I thought more about it, I decided I would focus on creating a visual diary of sorts, small pieces that form a calendar of my life/world during 2021. Working in this format allows for a few things:
- I get to work in small scale, something I enjoy doing, but don't do a lot of with most pieces I create.
- I have the ability to pre-design days, like Rex Manning Day (April 8) or my birthday (June 11), which helps calm my overthinking about how I'm going to come up with something every day.
- Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything. Maybe it's a real or random holiday, the anniversary of something historical, a mood I was in that day, something I learned, a quote, or a new stitch I want to practice. It doesn't matter as long as I make the piece in one day.
- My love of lists and record keeping will be on grand display. I'm a planner by nature, which may seem at war with being creative, but I find my planner self helps my creative self and vice versa. My need to document is going to love this project!
- I have to create, stitch, and document once piece per day, which means I need to focus on creating small scale work that is interesting, but also executable in one day. And by one day, I mean the hours I'm not working or sleeping. That means each piece needs to be able to be completed in 3-4 hours (lunch time, after work time) during the week, and maybe an actual day on a weekend.
- I have to draw. I'm not a great drawer, but since this is a project about my day, I need to be able to illustrate what's going on. Some things will be easy, like quotes if I use lettering, and basic shapes like hearts and squares. Other days will need actual drawing skills. It's going to be interesting.
- Time will be my biggest challenge. I have to make the time each day to create something and be motivated to do it. Like any routine, it will take time to get into the right groove, but I'm confident I can do this.
- Learn more! I'm excited to learn new stitches, refine the ones I already know, and use new techniques and materials (Pom Poms! Sequins! Cassette tape ribbon!)
- I will stitch one 3x3 square each day, including a border and whatever thing/concept/mood represents my day. I'm starting with mapping out the grid of the entire month of January to see if this format works. I may change the format in future months if it doesn't or if I want to try something different.
- Each piece will be documented here and on Instagram. Documentation will include: a photo, stitch guide, color palette, and sources/citations/attributions (if applicable). I'm still playing around with what will be on IG, but full documentation will be here on the blog. This means what I've listed already plus process photos (if applicable) and any tips/tricks I learned that might be helpful to another embroiderer. I also have a physical notebook for the project, and will share entries from it when the mood strikes.
- Everything will be hand sewn, including attaching the months together. I've sketched this out and played around with a sample version, but honestly have no idea if what I planned will work until I have a few months finished.
- I aspire to learn five new stitches by the end of the year.
- All patterns/designs will be original, unless otherwise noted in the citation for each piece.
- I love embroidering and documenting stuff - this is the perfect way to bring those two passions together in one place.
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| This is one of my favorite pieces from 2020: I found a random accordion book in my craft stuff (it's paper), and stitched song lyrics on one side and created visual representations of the lyrics on the other side. |
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