Floral Embroidery

I hope you had some nice weather this weekend! It's starting to feel like summer here in the East Coast. But whatever the season, crafting is always on my agenda.

Last Wednesday, I joined the Makerie Community for "A Playful Pause," a virtual crafting session. 

We started out with some hand yoga led by Heidi Parkes. I've never done hand yoga before and I think I should do it every morning or when I need to relax my hands.

Then master quilter Zak Foster introduced the activity:

We had to sew without looking! It was hard! But we relied on our fingertips to be our eyes. We tried it out by sewing a straight line, then sewing a shape (my attempt at a heart), and finally a word. My word was "leap" -- a reminder that I should just go for it without overthinking. But the "P" looks like a "D" so the word can be "lead" (as in "leadership" and not "lead" the chemical).  This activity made me extra grateful for the sense of sight and that I should be open to new techniques that challenge my creativity.

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It's all about sewing today. Personally, I am very drawn to handicrafts with floral embroidery. It reminds me of my childhood. We had tablecloths and pillow covers decorated with embroidery. I also learned embroidery in school -- we made a bag and a layette (linen for baby) for Practical Arts. Embroidery is one of my first forays into crafting. Embroidery also makes me feel safe.   

Here is a bag that I purchased in a Bangkok market many, many years ago:

The cloth is linen and the handles are made out of wood.

Lazy-daisy flowers and small seashells are sewn on it.

I love that it doesn't look like the mass produced bags of today and I can imagine an artisan leisurely working on this while humming her favorite song.

I hardly use this bag now but I've kept it as a souvenir from that memorable trip (maybe I should frame it).

This is a pencil skirt that I've owned for more than a decade. 

I fell in love with the colors and the floral stitching.

Taking a cue from these items, I applied some embroidery to turn some items in my closet from blah to TADA!: 

This is an old wallet that has been hiding in a box in my closet.

To give it life, I added some 3-dimensional stitching that I learned on Pinterest...TADA!

I also embroidered a pair of shoes that developed a small hole. I thought that was a sneaky solution to cover it up. Apart from the hole, it was still in good shape.

I drew the flowers with white pencil.

Then I slowly made the stitches.

Now, I am able to wear the shoes again (and the compliments aren't so bad either)...TADA!

I used the same floral embroidery technique to decorate this handmade face mask...TADA! Always good to keep it handy even if mask mandates are being lifted.

And finally here is a shawl that was looking blah. Sewing was a bit of a challenge because of the thin material but the flowers embroidered on it gives it more personality...TADA!

How about you, are you a fan of embroidery?