Sally Wilson
With her huge online following, Sally Wilson of Caterpillar Cross Stitch found it easy to adapt her Stitching Socials to create a virtual experience
Many social groups had to move online due to the pandemic, but for Sally Wilson of Caterpillar Cross Stitch, that’s actually how her stitching socials originally began, way before last year’s lockdowns. “For over five years we’ve been connecting daily with stitchers from all over the world in our Facebook group, YouTube channel and across social media,“she explains. “We love seeing stitchers create their beautiful pieces online but knew how wonderful it would be to get likeminded stitchers together… in real life!” So, back in the days just before Covid was even known about, Sally decided to organise some stitching get togethers. “The response was amazing and we held our first events in Warwickshire (near to Caterpillar Cross Stitch HQ ) with 12 attendees,” she recalls. “The designs they could choose from were Cosy Christmas Jumper or Peace Dove.
“We hired out a beautiful art gallery workshop that also hosted other events such as flower arranging and mosaics. Each stitcher received a full cross stitch kit (a new exclusive design), a special Stitching Social needleminder that you can’t buy elsewhere, some prosecco and cakes.” The first socials had a festive theme, “We had Christmas music playing in the background, as those events were held in November 2019, played games, got to know each other and had fun!”
Of course since Covid hit Sally had to then think out of the box as to how to keep the stitching socials momentum going. “Since lockdown started, I hosted weekly Friday night ‘Stitch with Sally’ events on Facebook,” she says. “These went down really well and people started asking for me to open up Virtual Stitching Socials so that anyone anywhere could take part and we could still have that much needed friendship and support over the challenging months.
“We hosted four virtual events in 2020 and it was so lovely getting to chat to people from all over the world. The designs for those events were Oh Beehive and All the Zest. We have six events in the first half of 2021 (we’re half way through them now!) and we are currently stitching our floral country cottage design, Mulberry Cottage. It might even be the catalyst for a full collection of cottage designs!”
Sally has found online events have their own perks, “The benefits of hosting the events online are that it opens it up to anyone around the world, there are many people who don’t know anyone else near them who stitches so it opens up a whole new world! No-one needs to travel, incur costs or get dressed up! You can even sit and stitch with us in your PJs! Everyone is sent their supplies in advance, they can sit in their comfiest chair and meet others, get tips and have fun without leaving the comfort of their own home. The events have been really successful so far, it’s so fulfilling knowing that people get so much joy from them.”
Sally admits there were a few things that took some getting used to using the different format, with some having a chattier atmosphere than others, “At the in-person events, we had music and prosecco flowing amongst the 12 people so there was never a dull moment! At the virtual events, some people prefer to sit back, relax and just listen.” But as with so many things once people got used to being online it all worked out, “Everyone feels a little shy at first but any nerves quickly subside. Many of our event attendees are also stitching (or have stitched) one of our SALs. I love seeing the mix of personalities and hearing where people are from, what they do for work, their families and pets (who often make an appearance!) and how they got into stitching.”
Just to make things official as to how well the online socials went down, Sally got feedback from the stitchers themselves. “We send out an annual questionnaire to our customers in December. People found that it gave them a sense of connection, friendship and they didn’t feel so alone. It gave them something to look forward to, a project to work on bit by bit over the weeks and they made new friends to chat to even after the event.”
They’ve been such a success that there’s no sign of stopping them when things are back to a more normal way of life! Asked how long they want to continue doing them, Sally enthuses, “Indefinitely! They’ve been a wonderful way to connect so we plan to grow them and host a batch regularly throughout each year. We now have different hosts too so you can pick who’s event you’d like to attend. For 2021, we plan to host 18 events with eight attendees at each.” If this sounds like something you’d like to take part in, you don’t need any stitching experience at all. “We make all of our kits suitable for complete beginners,” explains Sally. “Some attendees have been stitching for years, others a couple of months. We have people of all ages from all walks of life – that’s what makes it interesting!” www.caterpillarcrossstitch.com
people started asking for me to open up Virtual Stitching Socials so that anyone anywhere could take part