It has now been, much to my dismay, over a month since my last post! Unfortunately it has been a rather difficult period of time as my Mother was in hospital in London (a four-hour door to door journey on public transport for me, with two dogs and a house still to look after back home!) Whilst I have had no time for blogging, I have, however, still managed to spend a few minutes a day on my current hand embroidery project...
I'm working on a collection of different butterflies, and hope to have this as an ongoing side-project to keep coming back to until the whole piece of fabric is covered. The choice of fabric is, however, causing a few problems... when I began the first butterfly it was simply as something to keep me occupied rather than as a project I could see going further, so I just started stitching on the only plain fabric I happened to have - some old curtain lining. It is really a bit thin and tends to mark quite easily, and I'm also experiencing some problems with puckering... I'm hoping that using some stabiliser on subsequent butterflies will help matters!
For me, however, this project is not so much about a perfect finish or visual results, but rather about the process of stitching itself, doing what I can, when I can. I recently lost my younger sister, and started this project simply as something to do and concentrate on to help cope with very difficult times. I chose to embroider butterflies because they have taken on a very special meaning to me since my sister's passing, for a number of reasons that I won't go into here.
A little research showed me that I am not alone in finding embroidery a way of coping with difficult times. The therapeutics of stitch are recognised as involving meditation, relaxation and distraction - all techniques which are widely taught on pain management courses, and perfect for those experiencing trauma, stress and anxiety. The opportunity to focus the mind and 'block out' feelings of pain, even for a very short time, can have significant effects in providing a renewed feeling of control over otherwise overwhelming situations. The process of making something is also shown to aid self-esteem and combat feelings of social isolation, faced by many people debilitated either physically or mentally. Further studies have even gone so far as to suggest that the rhythmical and repetitive movements of stitching induce a form of meditation that can steady an anxious heartbeat, and enhance the release of serotonin in the body. The beauty of stitch is also that it can be picked up easily for just 10 minutes or so, and put away again with little hassle or fuss - perfect for my situation over the last few weeks of getting just a few minutes a day for myself, amongst a whole lot of stress and upset.
To finish off, I thought I would just share the process of making one of the butterflies. Drawing has never been a strong point for me, so I have relied on using photos to get my embroidery design onto fabric.
Here I have found a picture of a Brimstone butterfly. After seeing many in my garden over the Summer, I just love their gorgeous yellow colour and elegant wing shape, and I thought this side view would show this off and add some variation as the butterflies I have already done have their wings open.
By drawing over the wing outline of the black and white image with a marker pen, upon turning over the paper you get a good outline of the basic wing shape.
As you can see, the marker pen outline shows clearly through the paper and fabric, allowing it to be easily traced. I use a water erasable fabric pen that I purchased from a local quilting shop. As the name suggests, it allows you to draw anything you like, yet dissolves completely when immersed in water. After tracing the outline of the wing shape - something I didn't trust myself to do accurately enough alone! - I then freehand the rest of the body and any internal patterns within the wings.
With the design drawn, it is time to start stitching... and yes, don't judge, I am here sat in bed with the pottery scene of 'Ghost' playing in the background...
The Brimstone butterfly still isn't quite finished as you can see, so it's looking a little messy with all the blue pen still showing round the sides. It shouldn't be too long, however before it is finished and I'm onto the next one! Once all the butterflies are done I will probably work on adding some plants like the one the Brimstone is settling upon in the above photo - watch this space for future updates on how they are coming along!
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