Well, embroidery is hard. I started off trying to learn a few stitches and practicing before committing to my first official project. I learned the backhand stitch which presented to be pretty easy and I managed to make the stitches relatively even. I then continued to learn the running stitch which is just a simple forward stitch used in a variety of different designs. Lastly, I learned the split stitch which was the hardest of the three but with lots of concentration, I began to improve.
The first project I decided was going to be a handwritten script of my dogs’ name and floral arrangement around the edges of the name. I began with some baby pink thread and set up my embroidery hoop with some Aida cloth. I sketched out a cursive version of my dog’s name “Oreo” in pencil in order to trace with my stitches. I started with the O and began to attempt my backhanded stitch which started off great until I approached the circular part of the O. I tried my best to follow my sketch but it ended up looking like a square which wasn’t really what I was going for. I face-timed my boyfriend to get his opinion and we agreed that although it was a good first attempt I could do better. I pulled out the stitches I had made, rewatched a few youtube videos on how to backstitch letters and went full force ahead. I committed until the very last O and although my handwritten embroidery could use some practice it got a lot better.
From this first attempt at embroidery, I definitely underestimated how precise you have to be and how hard it truly is. I appreciate anyone who is good at embroidery even more than I did prior to gaining some experience. I am very motivated, however, to keep trying and improving and learning new stitches and adding to my first piece. On October 4th Jessica from the class and I are meeting up to learn a few more stitches and to help each other improve. I am excited to watch myself progress and hopefully find my new hobby.
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