Hello, Needlework Community! I am @arrliinn, and for a long while, I have been inspired by the amazing works you guys have been contributing here on the blockchain. Not that I am good with needles, NO! I particularly remember my time at school where the Home Economics subject would focus at sewing. I was really bad at it. My teacher even told my mother when she asked why my grades had gone down, "Your daughter doesn't even know how to hold a needle properly!" That was at third grade, and it I can still remember that three decades later.

My confidence level did not go up even in high school. In junior year, we had the option to choose a Home Economics subject -- technical drawing (automatic for boys, optional for girls), and sewing (vice versa). Of course, I chose technical drawing! Lol. I'd rather make floor plans and miniature house models than make an apron, because my grade school teacher's feedback on me still lingered at the back of my mind.

A Very Few Needleworks

In college, a friend introduced me to cross stitching. My very first "obra-maestra" was a cherub, with which I only used 10 DMC colors.

I got hooked, seeing a few stitches slowly come into form, was really satisfying. Hence, I decided to make a second one, the nude lady. It was much simpler with most only requiring half stitch. I cannot remember how many thread shades were there, but I think there were only 10 too.

Finally, I got convinced that I could finish a project that I decided to make a more intricate piece. This lady in a horse really tested my patience and eyesight. Haha.

_{Apologies for the bad photos. I never really expected I would have the chance to blog about them. Haha. They were taken almost three years ago during our 2017 vacation in the Philippines. These frames are hanging at my parent's home.}

These are the only three cross stitch projects I got to finish. The last one, Sabong (cockfight) remained a WIP and shall be that forever and ever. 😁

Pimp Your Jeans

We have this set of sequins for art works which I have kept in the deepest, darkest part of our homeschool cabinet. Why, you may ask? Well, it is too messy! However, my daughter found it and decided to play with it again.

Spilled here and there, the colors got mixed up as you can see at the photo at the right. I was convinced I needed to throw them already.

But my daughter had other plans.

She wanted to make a bracelet out of it, and she wanted me to make it with her. I told her we needed some elastic threads to make the bracelet, but she was adamant we only needed thread and a needle.

She started stringing the sequins together, then she realized that her idea wouldn't work. The sequins just stuck together and did not really make a good bracelet.

I have an idea!

"You know what, let us just sew those sequins onto your jeans," I told my Little Miss.

I pulled out this old jeans of her, not really sure how to pull this idea through. All right, que sera, sera!

_{Let's pimp this jeans!}

At first, I told her that we will just put red sequins along the heart patch. I tried them first, and after some time, it was Little Miss' turn.

She was a little scared the needle would poke her, but immediately got the hang of it. Most of the time, I would hold the jeans for her to make sure that the thread won't get tangled.

"Creating something is much more fun than just watching on you tube," she told me.

Oh, I am glad you think that, Little Miss!

Done! Or are we?!

After a few minutes, we were done outlining the heart with red sequins. We're done! Yey!

"No, Mommy! We need to fill the heart with the sparkles (sequins)," she said.

What?!!!

So Little Miss decided that it will look better if we filled the whole heart up. "What color should we choose?" I asked.

"Gold!" she cried excitedly.

Filling the Heart ❤️

Again, I didn't have any idea how to do it.

I decided to start at the middle and go around outwards until we fill the whole heart.

While it was her idea, Little Miss left me at it. Huh! Hello, Little Miss! Come here and do your stuff.

She joined me again after some time and did most of the work. Oh well, I had to do the holding-the-jeans part still.

Done, finally!

A few spilled sequins later, we finally finished filling up the heart.

I have to admit, it was a good idea, filling up the heart. It looked a lot better than when it was just the red heart outline.

Do you agree with me?

Other Plans

Little Miss has other plans with this pair of jeans. She is not yet finished, apparently. We sure will share that with you in the coming days, if ever she decides to proceed with her plan.

Since this pair of jeans are already small for her, she said she would give them to Kisle (pronounced "Kyle"), their friend who they have not seen for a few months already, no thanks to this crazy thing we call "pandemic".

I hope you liked our little project, as much as we enjoyed making them. We've got a long way to become great needleworkers, but we hope to get there, slowly but surely! How do you think we can improve our work?

It was also a fun mother and daughter bonding time, and a great fine motor skills exercise for her growing fingers.

Until our next project!

See you!