Although I haven’t shared it publicly, I have joined the #100dayproject on Instagram. It started on April 6 and runs until July 14. To incorporate #spin15in15 into it, I decided to spin wool embroidery thread.
So, as I spin, my mind drifts into other craft worlds, weaving and intertwining all the ways I work with wool.
If I am going to make a thread for crewel embroidery, then I should probably know how to do it, right?
I have done a lot of cotton embroidery and needlepoint, but I have never tried crewel embroidery itself.
I decided it was time to finish a kit I found somewhere during my travels a few years ago. The cost was only 99 cents, and the best part was the design being a spinning wheel — imagine that.
Everything was included: printed 100% cotton sailcloth for the front (stamped) and backing, crewel needle, 100% virgin wool crewel yarn, 100% cotton piping, a 12-inch zipper, and easy-to-follow, detailed instructions.
How can it be intimidating? Well, it can. Just look at this diagram.
It has already been a lesson, having never done the laidwork stitch before. After a few stitches, I got the hang of it. Perfect, no, but I was no longer hesitant to take the next stitch.
It’s amazing how this kit has survived 42 years and has never been started, let alone opened. Sometimes, the universe has a plan, and I think this crewel embroidery kit and I were meant to be together.
This would have been a fantastic #100dayproject. Not all is lost; I can still work on my embroidery thread for future planned pieces as I navigate my way through the world of crewel.