first ever.

I have been wanting to do a cross stitch for quite some time but have never found anything I liked the look of- a house, Winnie the pooh, a boat... boring... then on DUST ( Down Under Street Team on Etsy) I found the very clever and very talented radicalrags and her cross stitch designs which immediately appealed to me...but I still felt quite daunted by the neatness required... on Saturday morning I woke up, rolled up my sleeves and started ( my internal mantra - nothing motivates you like starting- kicking in)... I decided to just do the words and not the flowers- I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed. I was up to 11:45pm last night on a mission to finish it- I am very proud of it... its a little bit wonky but I did every single stitch that way / first.

I was telling a woman at work about it and she said "the back has to be as neat as the front." This immediately got my back up!! ( I just smiled sweetly at her) WHY DOES IT!????!!! This is exactly the kind of sewing attitude that keeps people scared to try new things! I cannot stand this kind of everything- has- to- be- exact and perfect and exactly right attitude- it stifles creativity and stops people experimenting- it keeps us closed in a box- all the sewing rules and this and that - it scared me off sewing for years - I had a sewing teacher at school , Miss Nash-like this- who was ultra critical and she really put me off. Now I love it and it makes me angry that she ruined my confidence so much that I only recently felt confident enough to sew again.

Craft and art and creativity needs to be open to everyone- bend those rules ( I have yet to buy Bend the Rules Sewing book but I love the idea) make mistakes, cut corners, try new things we need to encrourage difference and experimentation- thats how people learn. We need to make everyone feel like they can have a go , have a try, regardless of their age, experience etc- we need to make it inclusive-we need to help and share those new to it-they might find out they are really good at it... and wouldn't that would be very exciting!!!