embroidery

em·broi·der·y /ɛmˈbrɔɪdəri, -dri/ [em-broi-duh-ree, -dree]
–noun, plural -der·ies.
the art of working raised and ornamental designs in threads of silk, cotton, gold, silver, or other material, upon any woven fabric, leather, paper, etc., with a needle.

lately my fixation with sewing has led to embroidery. i used to think that embroidery was just applique; the traditional floral prints and cottage impressions. so i tossed the notion of ever doing embroidery aside when i started learning how to sew in secondary school as part of the mandatory home economics. but the past few days, i've started noticing websites and blogs with "unconventional" embroidery. in particular elsie (which is where i got the diamond pattern from). so i've been stiching skullys, cupcakes and diamonds. i'm not sure what i'm doing to do with these random pieces of cloth with equally random embroidery. but let's not concern ourselves with that yet.

i realise that embroidery is just a technique and you can do anything with it really. i'm beginning to think of it as an extension of drawing. so anything doodled can be stiched. and i think that actually adds dimension in a different way. i don't know why i didn't realise this sooner. i think many a time we limit the definition of something to a preconceived notion. like just yesterday, andrew and i were having our usual coffeebean chat-chill time and we were strangely talking about the same thing. i was relating how i told his brother (evan) that the beginning of a book is usually boring till you reach the climax of the story. andrew said i shouldn't use such words with evan. then i protested saying the word climax is prefectly appropriate, it is a literary term. to which he then consented. he then described how in wuthering heights the word "ejaculated" was used to replace "suddenly". (no, i'm not drifting off topic, there's a point to this.) which is the same way i judged the word embroidery. (aha! yes, there's the point!) while it is usually used to sew particular designs, it doesn't equate to be all and end all. and in terms of art and methods, i think that would be a good "think-out-of-the-box" idea. use a technique used in another art form to alter in another art form that doesn't traditionally require or use such a technique. but then there's that thing about the many many other types of art forms out there.

i'm not sure if anyone else notices, but i tend to delve into alot of different types of crafts - scrapbooking, beading, painting, sewing, (interested in doing more decoupage and paper tole as well), clay work (especially with polymer clay) - this is on top of my other interests like cooking and baking, wanting to learn how to play tennis proper and etc. sometimes i wonder if i'm spreading myself too thin over too many crafts. andrew says that i want to do too many things. hmm. jane of all trades and mistress of none?

*sheryl