Lynn Krawczyk - The Hand-Stitched Surface: Slow Stitching and Mixed-Media Techniques for Fabric and Paper

I wrote this book in fifteen minutes. No, really, I did.

Okay, okay. Several fifteen-minute time blocks. Still, its not an endeavor that required me to lock myself away in a remote cabin for six months to accomplish.

This is one of many reasons why I love hand stitching. Its the type of thing that you can toss in your bag to work on in those spare moments when you would otherwise go mad waiting for an appointment or to make a long trip feel more bearable. Aside from its magical, sanity-saving abilities, hand stitching has a long history that I feel a personal responsibility to keep alive as much as possible.

There is something sacred about performing the same motions and stitches that have been created for centuries by other stitchers. And because historically this art form has been a womans domain, has often been overlooked.

While the speed of your hand stitching will likely pick up the more practiced you become, its not something that can be rushed. Its slow and methodical, and in a world where we are connected to anyone and anywhere on the globe, I consider it a necessity to be able to remove myself completely. This art form does not require any kind of technologyits totally off the grid.

I consider hand stitching a kind of universal language. Every culture has its own special version that reflects its beliefs and unique way of seeing the world. From kantha embroidery in India to sashiko in Japan and folk embroidery in Poland, hand stitching has a quiet history that is very deep and sacred.

My hope for you, my fellow hand stitcher, is that this book will inspire you to explore this art form and integrate it into your life the way I have. I cant tell you the pleasure and peace it has given me. I enjoy making art in many different formsart quilts, handmade books, paintings, wearable art. If there is a place I can park some hand stitching, I immediately reach for the needle and threads. No matter what art form dominates your imagination, hand stitching has a place if only youre willing to open your heart and mind to it.

I remember the world before the internet. I remember when answering machines with tapes were an incredible technological advance and how the neighbors waited on the front porch for the cable rep who was signing people up because it was the first time such a thing existed.

I remember summer days of bike riding and book reading and not a single electronic screen sitting before me. I remember going to the library and smelling the dust on the pages and digging through the card catalog to find what I wanted. I remember when recipes were handed down on handwritten index cards.

And I remember sitting on the front porch of my childhood home, nodding to neighbors as they walked to the corner store for ice cream.

This was when the world moved at a slower pace, and while I am in no way dogging technology (I use a lot of it myself and really enjoy it), I wonder if the world would be a little bit of a better place if it could just learn to SLOW DOWN.

Hand stitching leading to world peace is a stretch, but my point is that what we build in our own personal worlds feeds out into everything else. Slow stitching is about being present, about living fully in the moment instead of rushing just to get things done and tick them off the list.

When you first hear the phrase slow stitching, you may be tempted to think of a woman sitting in her chair, toiling at her stitching project with painfully slow motionstyle movements.

Not the case at all.

While it does refer to the speed at which we work, slow stitching is rooted in the idea that your project takes on a whole new layer of meaning when you choose to spend more time with it. This creates a bond between you and your work that shows in the final product.

It also creates your history in a unique form of record keeping. Items that you created with your own two hands can be passed from family member to family member over the years.

Slow stitching is all about taking time and allowing yourself that special space to create and to keep this incredible art form thriving.

One of the nice things about hand stitching is that all of the materials and tools are portable. You can toss every single thing you need to hand stitch a project into a tote bag and youre an instant mobile art studio. Your stitching essentials toolbox is, for the most part, fairly basic.

Youll need thread, needles, and embroidery scissors for any stitching project, whether youre working on fabric or paper. The most essential of thesethread and needlesare discussed on the following pages. The particular materials and tools youll need for stitching on fabric or on paper are described later in this chapter.