You can't pour from an empty cup

Remember that rest is key to your creativity

Photo: © Jesse Wild from my second book, The Modern Embroidery Handbook (2024)

Whenever I have a couple of hours of free time to myself, I always feel like I have to make the most of it. Between home educating, running a small business and everything else that’s going on, those times feel absolutely golden. And although I’ve intentionally tried not to do this, I usually end up planning a ridiculous and unachievable amount of activities and then feel a bit sad that I haven’t done what I wanted to. Isn’t that ridiculous?! I’m basically setting myself up to fail before I’ve even started 😂 Can you relate to that too?

When we give ourselves time to rest and recover, and that’s actually when inspiration can strike. When we’ve rested, we feel less pressure and that spark of an idea can appear.

It’s important to remember that rest looks different for everyone. On one day, it might be laying on the sofa watching your favourite boxset or going back to bed for a snooze. On another it might be cutting out clippings from magazines to make a collage or writing a list of things you’d like to make. I loved this recent post by

Emily Male

about pottering, and it made me think about some of the things that I could do at a slower, more restful pace. In attempting to make the most of my time, I often forget that I could just take my time instead!

These words from

Chelsey Pippin Mizzi

really stood out for me in this recent post:

“…my creativity needs and deserves more than mere maintenance.”

We do need to give ourselves time to focus on our creativity, but running on empty won’t help us to feel fulfilled during that time. Give yourself permission to rest and your creative flow will thank you for it 🩷 I’m not saying it’s easy - I find it incredibly difficult and I currently feel quite overwhelmed a lot of the time. But it’s something to keep working on and keep aiming for.

I was thrilled to work on a collaboration with the brilliant

Lucy Werner

from

Hype Yourself

this month, which features loads of ideas for living a creative life. You can throw yourself in or take your time with these, but I hope you find some takeaways here! A huge thank you to Lucy for inviting me to collaborate 🥰 You can have a read here 👇🏻

Une entreé of creativity

Photo: © Jesse Wild from The Modern Embroidery Handbook

Project inspo

Love Embroidery Magazine have featured a project from my new book in March, which is really exciting! Find the full instructions for my stitched wire basket in Issue 51, taken from The Modern Embroidery Handbook. The basket is from IKEA and isn’t available in blue anymore, but there is a beautiful yellow one here!

Stitch of the month

Double fern is featured in the stitched basket project, and I absolutely love this stitch. It’s so simple but really effective, and always gives me art deco vibes! Try it out on the basket, and it also works as a standalone motif or in a border pattern.

Watch the tutorial video here

Currently reading

This month’s reading recommendation is more of a practical one! I mentioned in a previous newsletter that I’m planning to make my own clothes this year (at a very slow pace) and I’ve been reading Sewing the Curve: Learn How to Sew Clothes to Boost Your Wardrobe and Your Confidence by Jenny Rushmore (affiliate link). Jenny is the founder of well-known pattern company Cashmerette, and this book is a brilliant introduction to sewing. I’ve found the section on measuring particularly helpful, as the instructions are really clear so you know exactly what you need to be doing. I’ve got my fabric ready to go, I just need to make time to trace my pattern pieces next!

Home ed

During half term last week, we had a few wonderful days in London. I think it was all what we needed! Although it was fast-paced and we packed a lot in, it felt restful in terms of being somewhere completely different. A highlight was visiting the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Rooms exhibition at the Tate Modern. Our daughter is really into art, and she discovered Kusama’s work through the Trixie Pickle: Art Avenger books by Olaf Falafel (I can’t remember which one but they are both excellent! Affiliate link included here). They both absolutely loved it, and it was so lovely to see them both getting so excited about art.

Here are a few activities that I found to try out this week, based on the work of Yayoi Kusama:

• This is a great project drawing mushrooms in the style of Kusama, and can be easily adapted for different ages

• Make a 3D paper pumpkin using paper strips

• There are some really fun ideas from Lotta Magazine here - I love the! project where you can recycle a drinks bottle and turn it into a mini sculpture

From the archives

If you need to make a quick gift, take a look at some of the free patterns that are available over on my website! Try this easy woven rose bouquet, my spring mandala hoop, or this easily customisable fern stitch wreath. Click on the links to find the free downloadable pdfs.

Hello! Hooray! shop

I’m excited to announce that kits to accompany my new book are now available to preorder! There are five different designs available, and I hope you love them as much as I do 🥰 This is my Happy little accidents hoop, inspired by the famous quote by Bob Ross, and this is one of the designs available.

Don’t forget to preorder your copy of The Modern Embroidery Handbook for the instructions, as the instructions for the projects are in there and not included with the materials.

Wishing you a creative month ahead

Thanks so much for reading this month’s roundup! Don’t forget that you can still stitch the THRIVE hoop as part of my Embroidery Membership - today is the first Masterclass Month and we’re learning how to stitch with different yarns. I’d love for you to join us!

Clare 😊