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Mindful Embroidery

Being mindful is about being in the moment and allowing nothing else to matter. Do whatever helps you with this - put on some music, have a cup of tea, curl up on the sofa or just focus completely on your stitching to be truly mindful.

As you practice having this creative time it becomes easier and you will find taking the time to just sit and make quietly more natural. The idea is to concentrate on the stitching and the fabric and let the worries of life fade away. You know you have cracked it when you look at the time and think ‘Oh, where did the last hour go?’

You should be able to find everything you need for this project at home as you can make it from remnants, thread and a needle. The whole point is not to rush out, go out and buy something new but to make use of what you already have. Please make sure you have everything you need before you start so you do not have to break your concentration by getting up to hunt for things mid-flow.

Selecting the best types of fabric:

  • Your base fabric is usually felt, wool or batting (firm but soft!) because this gives good stability to the piece and is kind to your hands. However, if you prefer a lighter weight finish or are looking to create a top piece for a quilt or similar project then plain cotton will work.
  • The top fabrics should be soft enough to stitch through by hand, such as lightweight cotton and synthetics, silks and linen. Old clothes and offcuts are a great source for this as you only need small bits plus this adds a personal touch to your individual pieces. This is a good way to create memory projects if you work solely in personal remnants.
  • The finishing touches can be vintage and specialist fabrics as you only need small pieces. I love to use Japanese fabrics as this technique pays homage to the Japanese technique of Boro quilting, however, other cultures also use similar techniques and Indian sari silk or Indonesian woodblock prints would look equally striking. This layer is where you would use your favourite fabrics in small amounts as details.

Laying out your piece:

  • Start with backing, then lay out your plain fabrics. The size you choose to work is entirely up to you. I recommend you do not create a piece that is too overwhelming for your first one. A5-A4 is a good size to start. Laying out your first fabrics should be a quick task. Start with plain fabric. It is about covering the background fabric and your chance to practice not overthinking. Set yourself a 2-5 minute time limit to complete this step. Snip and rip to create straight, frayed edges on your fabric with ease and overlap the pieces until you have covered the background. If you have a few gaps do not worry as you can cover these in the next step.
  • Next, use patterned and textured pieces of fabric to finish covering the felt background. Overlap the pieces again and do not worry too much about the layout.  
    Note: Do not overthink your fabric layout as it is a background for stitching. It can look quite disjointed and plain until the stitches bring it together.
  • Finally, take your small detailed fabric pieces and place these on top to finish your composition. You only need a few to add some highlights to the composition. This is a great way to use those amazing pieces of fabric from your stash that you could never bear to part with.
  • Once your composition is complete you can hold your pieces in place with pins, quick tacking stitches or a bit of sneaky iron-on fusing web. If you choose to use iron-on web, rip tiny pieces and slip it under the fabrics everywhere you would put a pin and then iron it down. The less you have the easier it will be to stitch.

Now to stitching:

  • There are so many choices of thread that it can be hard to know what to use. Many people have stranded embroidery thread to hand which can be used either as it is or split into 2-3 strand pieces for a finer look. I prefer to work with a thinner thread so that the fabrics are the dominant factor in the piece, but the choice is yours. There are also fine crochet yarns, silk and linen threads, wool, cotton - whatever you have will work.
  • The choice of colour will affect the final look of the piece. A more neutral colour or one that fits with the fabric choice will allow the fabrics to stand out in the piece whereas a bolder colour that is totally different to the fabrics will draw attention to the thread.
  • Keep your thread short - do not cut pieces that are longer than the distance from your hand to your elbow or it will become distressed and then so will you! When your thread runs out just knot it off at the back by passing the needle back through your loop and pulling tight, then start again from where you finished. No-one will see the back, so it doesn't matter what it looks like.
  • When choosing a needle, pick the biggest one you have! I use a chenille needle as it has a large eye and a sharp point which means it is simple to thread and gets a wide range of thread though easily, but also goes through the fabric.
  • Keep the stitches simple. I often only use a running stitch (up and down in straight lines). You can run the stitches as close together or far apart as you like and they do not have to be regular. The lines do not even have to be straight. You can work the whole piece as one or you can just focus on small sections like a single piece of fabric at a time if you like. The running stitch can also go in wiggles, side to side, in circles and even back over itself in opposite directions. It can stay the same size or vary.
  • If you want to get creative, you can incorporate as many types of stitches as you like. There are crosses, feathers, loops, knots, herringbones, chains and so much more. At the end of the day, the name of the stitch is just a way to identify it, you can even make up your own, a stitch is a mark made in the thread.
  • Remember to embrace your inner wabi-sabi in your work and in what you do, and everything becomes easier. Imperfections are key to this technique. Allow your stitches to be wonky and your lines to wobble as it adds character and charm, but most importantly, you can relax and enjoy doing it. More information about Wabi-Sabi can be found here.

Project by WI member Bex Raven, League of Extraordinary Women WI (Clwyd-Denbigh Federation)

Bex has been teaching for 20 years and travels throughout the UK to run workshops and talks. She also exhibits her work at national venues. Find out more on Bex's website: https://bexraven.co.uk/