#institchescreative2020

We are all having to come to terms with the devastating impact of Coronavirus.  Compared to all those key workers in the NHS, vaccine research,  the emergency services, the food supply chain, and the many more unsung heroes who are working around the clock to make sure we stay safe and well, what we do does seem a luxury.  But we'd like to play our part too, so we've spent the last few days thinking how we can help. 

We set up InStitches because we wanted to share our passion and to inspire as many people as possible to get stitching and creating.  We know that for many of you it isn't just 'messing about' with paper, paint, cloth and thread.  It's about friendship, community, inner peace, fulfilment, the joy of creating, developing a creative voice and so, so much more.  We know, we get it; we are with you on that.  

Our gift to you over these next days, weeks and even months to come is a spark of creative joy.  Take this moment to stop, slow down and make time to appreciate the smaller pleasures in life.  

So that's what we plan to do.  Each and every week we plan to bring you both a paper- and a cloth-based project.  We are calling it #institchescreative2020.

There are several ways you can get involved with #institchescreative2020 :

• Sign up for our newsletter (existing subscribers will need to update their preferences to opt in)
• Visit our blog regularly – you can sign up for RSS feeds and have it delivered direct to your inbox
• Follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you will hear about new posts as they happen.
• Post your creative endeavours on Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag #institchescreative2020, then follow the hashtag to see what others have been up to…

At the moment we are both well and plan on coming into the studio most days (we will have social distancing down to a fine art soon!) but we do appreciate that some of you may already be  self-isolating or not able to access many craft supplies, so we plan to keep everything as simple as possible on requirements whilst still providing that creative hit.  

​So what supplies will you need to start off with?

Paper Project:

• Paper - cartridge paper, brown paper, black/coloured paper, copy paper, found paper - old Festival of Quilts bags, bread bags, anything really!
• Cutting knife, ruler and board/a pair of scissors/ any means of ripping paper will do
• Colouring media - paints, coloured pencils, watercolour, food colourings (!) - whatever you have
• Something to draw with
• A needle and some thread/ piece of ribbon/ elastic band - all will be revealed on this one!

Cloth Project:

• Fabric - anything you can sew on, be creative here! I'm planning on using an old small linen table cloth
• Thread - whatever you have to hand. Cotton machine or universal sewing thread will work just as well as fancy hand dyed threads or commercial embroidery floss.   
• Needles - need to be ones you can see to thread! Embroidery, quilting or something from the supermarket!  
• Small sharp scissors
• Embroidery or quilting hoop - optional
• Wadding & backing fabric - optional
• Any stitch books you may have.  Don't worry if you haven't got any, I'll also be telling you about websites etc that you may find inspirational.

Let's build our creative on-line  community, we would really love to see what you are up to.  Post to Instagram and use  the hash tags:  #institchescreative2020 and #institches2013.  Don't forget to follow both us and the hashtags to see what everyone else is creating too! 

On Facebook reply to the relevant week's post with your comments and images. And don't forget to actually follow InStitches on Facebook to see what everyone else is up to.

Stay safe, keep well, and don't forget to wash those hands!

Hazel & Terry