Stitching with Jess

Jessica Savage introduces a brand-new series of charts which encourages you to wear your stitching as a badge of honour…

Hullo! Welcome to this new set of charts! Over the next six issues, we’ll be stitching pa erns reminiscent of those highest prizes longed for as children – awards! If you were in Guides or Scouts, you remember the pride of achieving a badge to a ach to your shirt or sash.

In adulthood, we don’t have nearly as many awards, I think we deserve some! Anyone who has ever done their tax or scrubbed tiles or worked overtime (or any other boring adult task) knows exactly what I mean. Just because we grew up doesn’t mean we should lose the joy of unabashedly celebrating our achievements.

Last series, I took you through a sequence of affirmations designed to channel your self-positivity. This series, I want to give you pieces that will remind you of the value of action and how good it feels to ‘Do The Things’, no ma er how big or small.

This first pa ern reminds us there is usually no limit to our capacity if we remove our own barriers. Others may try to throw blockades up around us, but via our self-worth and competence, we can achieve even the most remote of dreams.

There is so much doom and gloom in the world these days and it can make us feel as though we have no capacity to fix anything. But, at the very least, by working on ourselves and sharing the compassion, respect, and kindness we cultivate, we can do our own small part in creating a beer world. If nothing else, we’ll develop a small sanctuary of self-love within ourselves.

As you stitch these patches, remind yourself that anything you’re dreaming about is possible, although sometimes it’s not in the way you expected. In the same way you’d tackle the largest and most complicated cross stitch pieces, anything you want is absolutely achievable by taking consistent steps towards it. It might not happen today or next week, but one day you’ll find yourself somewhere new through your own persistent and deliberate actions. Once your patch is stitched, you could hang it (and the rest in this series) in a chain of hoops as a reminder of your capacity. Or stitch it onto your favourite jacket. Perhaps give it to a friend who you know could use some kind words and support? Whatever you choose, this kick boom! Stitch boldy! Jess