Coloring with Thread: Hand Embroidery Basics & Beyond

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
VO (00:00):
It's time to tantalize your earbuds with creative makers and
shakers. It's creative living,the podcast with Jane Claus,

Jane Clauss (00:10):
Welcome to Creative living, where we help you live
your most creative life. I'mJane Claus, thank you so much
for tuning in today. Hi. How areyou welcome to the show? All
right, as I always say, I justwant you all to spend one hour
every day being creative. But ifyou are stuck on what to do,

(00:32):
maybe you want to try somethingnew or even explore another part
of your artistic side. Today'sshow is your invitation, because
sometimes all it takes is oneproject, one conversation, one
tool or one spark to unlock awhole new passion. And today
we're talking about handembroidery from a pro Melissa

(00:55):
Galbraith is an artist who isinspiring people to get creative
one stitch at a time. So whetheryou're a total beginner or a
seasoned maker, she is here toshow us how embroidery can be
modern, fun and full ofpersonality. Melissa is a fiber
artist behind M creative J,that's a brand that's built on

(01:18):
bold designs. It's natureinspired patterns and also a
whole lot of heart. I got totell you. She is a small
business owner, she is anauthor. She is a marketing
genius. I am thrilled to welcometo the show. Melissa. Galbraith,
hey, Melissa, how are

Melissa Gailbrath (01:36):
you great? Thank you, Jane,

for my friends that are unfamiliar. So let's start
by explaining what exactly ishand embroidery.

So I always think of hand embroidery is kind
of like coloring with thread.You're creating pictures with
thread, filling in spaces withdifferent stitches to create
textures and patterns. I

love coloring with thread. That's such a great way
to look at it. I feel like I'veseen hand embroidery. I see a
lot of hand embroidery, but whenI see hand embroidery on the big
screen or on the small screen,like in the Gilded Age, the
ladies are always sitting aroundembroidering. We have heirloom
linens that are passed downthrough generations. I have some
in my own family. So it's got arich, rich history. It's been

(02:19):
around forever, but your workreally gives it a fresh and
modern twist. So describe yourwork today, and how do you make
hand embroidery so current andso creative?

Well, I love rich, textural work and playing
with lots of different stitchesand patterns and colors. So when
I first started embroidering, Ilearned on, like, a pre printed
white pillow case that had thisdesign that was not something I
was super excited about. It waslike a bird with some ribbons,
like, you know, something youpractice on. And when I got back

(02:52):
into embroidery, I, like, thesame designs were out there. And
I was like, Well, I'm not, like,really into this, but I want to
do this because it's kind oflike fun and relaxing. So I kind
of started making my own designsand playing around with it. And
I love using lots of colors,lots of textures, lots of
stitches, because when I do thesame thing over and over again,

(03:14):
I get bored with that. I likeplaying around with lots of
different things and trying topush the envelope and see, like,
how can you make embroidery bedifferent and look really cool
and like something you haven'tseen before?

What I think is fascinating is I do machine
embroidery. So a lot of timesI'll make something for someone,
and they'll say, oh, did you dothat by hand? And I'm like, No,
I touch a computer. I put a, youknow, pattern or design in
there, and I let it go. I changethe thread, right? But what
you're doing is really takes alot of skill. Like you said,
there's a ton of differentstitches. And if you go to your

(03:47):
website, you're showingtutorials on how to make these
stitches. If there's a beginnerthat's like, I think I want to
try hand embroidery, because Ilike to relax and I think it's
cool. I want to add this to oldclothes. I just want to make
some new art. Can you do itstarting with one or two
stitches? Is it beginnerfriendly?

Absolutely. I know embroidery artists that
only use a handful of stitches.You don't have to go wild and
crazy and know them all. I mean,I don't even know all the
embroidery stitches. There arehundreds of them to do and tons
of different variations onstitches. You can absolutely
just do one or two and stillmake something creative and
amazing.

Well, just for you know, for fun, can you just give
us a list of this differenttypes of stitches? Just throw
the names out like we're writingthem on paper.

Well, I mean, some of the basics are like the
satin stitch, the back stitch,the French knot, the lazy Daisy,
kind of like the chain stitch.Those are kind of sums that some
of the ones that you might do ifyou're kind of starting out. But
then there are some that are,like, a lot more trickier, or
like textural maybe, like theDanish knot, or the bullion not

(04:51):
or you could do Turkey work,which kind of looks like, like
carpet that kind of like sticksup, like, yeah, like threads
sticking up, like high pot.Know, yeah. Or you can do needle
weaving, which is all sorts ofdifferent variations that you
would weave your thread in andout of each other to kind of
create, like longer pieces thatwould either stick up or, kind

(05:13):
of like create differentpatterns and things like that.
So really, you can do a totalton of different things with
embroidery. And then you can getinto all sorts of different
variations, like stump work,which is where you would stitch
over, like wire or padding tocreate more sculptural elements.
You could do gold work, which isstitching over more like metals
and gold and metallics andthings like that. There's like

(05:33):
needle point, which is kind of adifferent variation of
embroidery. Cross Stitch, cruel,which is where you stitch with
like thicker yarns and threadsand things like that. So there's
so much you can do withembroidery,

wow. I mean, fascinating. This is why you're
an author, because you canexplain to us what we're doing
and what stitch we need. Whendid you realize, as you said,
when I went back to embroidery,I want to do this. When did you
realize pretty good at this, or,wow, I'm almost an expert, or I
am a total pro. Like, when didthat moment hit you?

Gosh, I mean, so I picked embroidery back up,
maybe, like, 10 years ago or so,and it was because I used to
have a corporate job that I satbehind the computer all day and
really didn't touch anythingtactile, and I missed that
experience. And so it was, Ilived in this tiny apartment. I

(06:31):
didn't have a lot of room forcrafts, and so I kind of picked
it back up and played aroundwith it for a few years. And
around that time, after I kindof was playing with it, people
really wanted to learn, and theysaid they were asking how to do
it. So I started teachingworkshops. And a few years into
that, people were asking formore resources. And, like,
wanted something that had a lotof, you know, like, cache behind

(06:54):
it, and I would always pointthem to, like, my blog or
something like that, and thatjust didn't feel like it had
enough, like, you know, like,they wanted something more that
was more professional, yeah? AndI was like, Well, I have the
experience, so I should see whatI can do. And I was like, Well,
I feel like I could write abook, so I did all the legwork

(07:14):
for it. I didn't really have anyconnections in the publishing
industry, but I was like, I'mgoing to figure out how to do it
and do it. So I did a lot ofresearch. I spent about six
months putting my pitchtogether, researching, like
different publishing houses,pitching them, and seeing what
would happen. And, I mean, it'sa lot of rejection or not
hearing back. But then, youknow, if you get the right one,

(07:36):
and they are the right personyou want to work with, and it's
kind of like works out, and it'sa really great and amazing
process.

It really is. And you are driven. I will tell you
that people get discouraged bythe nose. People get discouraged
by the six months of puttingthat proposal together and doing
the research. And they say,Well, I'm just going to keep my
day job. Sometimes you're doingit as a hobby. Friends and

(08:04):
family want more, or interestedparties want more, and then all
of a sudden you have a business,and you're like, Oh, my hobby
and passion now just turned intoa business. You, I feel are very
driven. Was it your plan to gofrom having this corporate job
into creating this business. It

was, I mean, I ran my M, creative J as a side
business for a really long time.I think I took the leap into
taking it as a full timebusiness before I was, like,
mentally ready there, but I hadsigned up for some trade shows,
and I couldn't, like, physicallydo them and my day job at the

(08:46):
same time, and so I kind of justhad to pick one over the other.
And I was like, Okay, well, ifyou're going to do this, this is
the time to do it. So I did, andit was super terrifying and
scary, but I made it work. Andthankfully, I have a really
supportive partner who was like,hey, you know it's going to be
okay. You're going to figure itout, and we'll make it work.

It is working. It is working. It's so fun. In
fact, I met Melissa at aconvention. And I met her at the
convention, not because I wasseeking out hand embroidery,
because Melissa is a marketinggenius, and she sends out emails
to all the people on the list, alot of people, even big
companies, they're not sendingme like, Hey, I'm in booth
number blah, blah, blah. And Ikept getting these emails from

(09:26):
Melissa, and I'm like, do I wantto go over and look at a hand
embroidery kit? And I'm like,not really. But do I want to go
say hi to Melissa and say rockon sister, because your
marketing is on spot like youare great in your marketing. How
do you make time you're busyrunning this business, you have
a family, you have a home,you're planning your trade show

(09:46):
booth, and I know how hard thatis to do. You're writing books.
This marketing thing is it justsomething that's in

you? I mean, I feel like once you have a
plan, you can kind of rinse andrepeat and use. It over and over
again. It's not like you have toreinvent the wheel every time.
So I had, like, at the beginningof the year, I knew what trade
shows I was going to do, and soI kind of had like, a template
of like emails I was sendingout, and then you can kind of

(10:15):
just adjust and edit them andthen plan them out for your
different trade shows. And it'sthe same with like, other kind
of content, you can like, adjustit for your different like
platforms you're using it for,and kind of make it work,
instead of having to like,schedule and create something
different for each platformyou're using,

I always say, make a plan. Make a plan. Expect it
to change, but at least make aplan. By the way, you're sending
out these emails. Little did youknow you send them out to retail
stores? You send them out toother makers? Well, little did
you know you were getting thislike creative living Jane,
that's totally dissecting whatyou do, going, Whoa. I gotta
talk to her, and I gotta findout what makes her tick, and I

(10:52):
want to see what she does behindthe scenes, and I want to learn
all about her business and why Ishould start hand embroidering.
I will say this, did you youstarted by selling your pieces,
and then you pivoted to makingkits, because at your trade show
booth, you have tons of finishedpieces. Are those demos of what
the kit is, and then whatinspired that shift? Because I

(11:13):
do know it takes a lot of workto make the finished product,

yes, so when I first started embroidering, I
did it because I was reallypassionate and loved creating
the pieces, but I found that,like, selling my pieces was not
something I really enjoyed, andit was really challenging to
convey to buyers the value of afinished embroidery, because
fiber arts are just not reallyvalued as art. They're not seen

(11:40):
as high quality art in the eyesof buyers, which is just
unfortunate, but that's kind ofhow they're seen. They're seen
as more as handcrafts. So it washard to put like a higher price
tag on them, even though theyhad taken so much time to create
and make and a lot of times,people that would come into my
booth would say, hey, I want tolearn how to do this instead of
actually buying a finishedpiece. So I decided I wanted to

(12:04):
switch to teaching people, and Iactually enjoy that so much
more, because then you get toshare the joy of helping them
learn how to create and makeinstead of, like, having to sell
them something. And I mean, youare selling them a workshop or,
like, a book or something likethat, but it's more enjoyable
because then they're learningsomething, and you're teaching
them in the process.

I love that you're peeling back the curtain, or,
I'd say you're opening thecurtains and the windows for
everyone to just fly through andstart feeling the creative
energy that you get from makingyour designs in hand embroidery.
I always say, just get you inflow. It's, you know, lowers
your stress, like, once you'rejust making something, that's

(12:43):
why I say, Hey, make something.Spend an hour every day being
creative, whatever it needs,whether it's cooking or writing
or hand embroidery, whateverthat is. I just feel like it
adds so much to your life, andthen you get that sense of
satisfaction that you made ityourself. I would say, even if
you've done hand embroiderybefore, if you make another one,
you're like, Wow, look how greatthat looks. Don't you feel the
same way? Oh, absolutely. Whensomebody opens a m, creative J

(13:09):
kit, what do you hope that theyfeel? What is your goal?

I mean, when they open it up, I want it to
feel like a crafty gift. Youknow, they open it up, there's
like a tissue paper that theyopen up and they feel like they
have all the supplies they needto just get going and have a
really great time. Yeah,

because you have to be very thoughtful on what your
approach is to keeping itcreative over being
intimidating. I

have a couple different skill levels for my
kit, so there's beginner onesthat still go through a couple
different stitches and walk youthrough that way. But then
there's also intermediate andadvanced kits, so that way you
can work up in different skilllevels and try different things.
And each kit I make is a littlebit of a sampler, so you get to
try different stitches, use themin different ways, and not feel

(13:57):
like you're doing the same thingover and over again.

And in your kits, nature, I noticed, plays a huge
role in all of your designs.What moment or what inspired you
to kind of lean into the nature?

I feel like nature is all around me, and so
it's really easy to pullinspiration from there. But also
nature is naturally imperfect,which is wonderful. And so as
you're stitching, it's okay ifyour stitches are imperfect as
well, too, because that's theway nature is. Maybe your leaf
didn't turn out exactly the waythe picture is, but it could be

(14:29):
that a bug took a little biteout of it, or maybe it got a
little too much sun, and that'sokay, you know. But also it's
just threads. You can alwaystake it out and redo it. You can

always take it out and redo it. How do you balance
creativity with running abusiness? Because we start on
the creative side, and you'recoming up with these beautiful
designs and these natureinspired scenes so that
everybody can feel what you feelwhen you're hand embroidering,
but you got to make the kits andrun the business and do the
marketing campaign. How do youbalance. All of it, I would

say my creativity kind of come and
comes in bursts and spurts. So Iusually kind of have like a
running list of ideas. So when Ifeel super creative, I try to
work on those and maybe likenoodle over an idea, but I don't
try to push an idea if I'm notreally feeling it or don't have,
like, that creative energy rightnow. And you know, sometimes,

(15:22):
like, maybe you have, like, areally big show, or, like, a
bunch of workshops coming up,and you have to put your energy
in other places. So I willmaybe, like, put something on
pause, make a bunch of notes orsketches and then say, I will
come back to this later, but atleast get that idea going and
flowing for when I have

it, and do time block. Like, let's get real
specific. Do you have acalendar? And you're like, Okay,
I'm going to spend from thistime to this time working on the
business. Or this day, is thisIn this day? Is this? Because I
know there are people that I'vemet that listen, that just want
a new project, they want to beinspired, they want to hear from
an artist like you. But thenthere are a lot of people that
have a small business andthey're thinking, Well, how do I

(16:00):
do it all?

Yeah, I mean, I am, I'm a person who has a
planner. I love the paper andpen planner, and I will kind of
start with, like, the bigpicture of the month and see
what I have going on, and thenkind of backtrack from there and
say, like, Okay, what would Ineed to accomplish this week for
what I have going on? And kindof go from there. I don't
necessarily time block, but Ialso say, like, Okay, if I have

(16:24):
these things this week, I needto get these things done. And
then I use, kind of like ahighlighter with different
colors, like, cross them off tosay, Okay, this was finished.
And like, you know, I'm notsaying, like, I have to finish
this this day, but like, it hasto happen sometime that week. So
there's like, some flexibilityin there, but it doesn't
necessarily put a ton ofpressure on me if I don't
absolutely finish it.

Yeah, I like having a deadline as well. I'm a very
project oriented person, so if Iknow that I need to get it done,
I usually say two days before itneeds to get done. I've got a
little wiggle room. I'm assumingthat your corporate background
helped you a lot with planningand making sure things are
running the way they should be.

Yes, I will also say that my corporate
background, I used to docommunications for like,
nonprofits and in education, soa lot of those, like
communication things have helpedme with running a business.

Absolutely, I think that's fantastic. I love
upcycling. I love to upcycledenim. I'll upcycle anything.
Really, Melissa, you give it tome, I'll turn it into something
else. I did give a pair of denimjeans to my niece, and they were
embroidered, and everyone stopsher, and they're like, I love

(17:34):
these. I love these. In the end,she said, Oh, my aunt made them,
or she found them. I didn't makethem because they were hand
embroidered. And I don't handembroider, but I'd love to learn
how they have these giganticflowers on. It's just they're
beautiful. And all sudden it hitme. I said, Oh, those jeans are
exactly hand embroidered. I'mtalking to Melissa is upcycling

(17:56):
a good way for somebody who'sinterested in hand embroidery to
get started.

Yes and no. So it really depends on the
fabric you're stitching on. Whenyou first start embroidering, I
would definitely start with afabric that doesn't have a whole
lot of stretch to it, becauseyou don't want to be fighting
the fabric as you're learningthe different stitches. If your
fabrics moving around a wholelot, it's really hard to get the
right tension on your stitchesand learn them. So I would

(18:21):
definitely pick a fabric, maybelike a cotton or a linen or a
non stretchy denim, would be agood option to embroider on.
Once you feel comfortable withyour stitches, then I think it's
totally fine to explore and dowhatever kind of fabric you
want, or really anything likeyou can embroider on paper and
metal and like plastic andanything you want. Like the
world is your oyster forembroidery. I love embroidery on

(18:43):
my clothes. I would say at leasthalf my wardrobe is embroidered.

Oh my gosh. I love that, dudes, does everything go
on a hoop? I know that's really,really, really, no, not a good
question. But as I'm thinking ofthe hoops, and you know, when
you get the hoop in the kit, doI have to put my denim into a
hoop? No,

no. So I my second book is all about shoe
embroidery. You would definitelynot put a shoe in it just
doesn't work. And I think fordenim, like it really depends on
where you're embroidering,because some of those really
thick seams on denim, you're notgoing to get a hoop around
those. So it just wouldn't workthat way. If you have, like, a
more thicker structuralmaterial, you might not need a
hoop, because the fabric itselfwill, like, lay flat enough and

(19:24):
have enough structure in it sothat you can keep your stitches
and the tension like, straightwith it. But if you have, like,
again, like a stretchier,thinner material than a hoop is
very helpful to keep thattension for your fabric.

You know, it's kind of the same thing at the machine
embroidery. I had some reallylight fabric, and I hooped it up
with very poor stabilizer. So itwas like a light stabilizer, and
I got a lot of puckers. So whenyou talk about, and I'm just
relating to how thick of fabricis, and you'd have to put a
heavy stabilizer in it when youput it in the machine. But if

(19:58):
you're hand embroidering it,you're going to. Need that
fabric to have more structure,or you're going to have to make
it taut enough that it doesn'tpucker when you pull through the
seams or through the stitches.

Yeah, and there's definitely stabilizers
you can use for hand embroideryas well, too,

that I would recommend, awesome. We can find
those on your website. I'mguessing,

yes, yeah, I have a couple different
tutorials and like, recommendeddo's and don'ts for hand
embroider is on your clothing aswell, too,

and your website is very well organized. You go
there and the perfect thumbnailsare perfectly labeled. I want to
learn how to do this. Let's talkabout your books, though, DIY
embroidered shoes. That's yoursecond book. How cool is that?
Have you seen it done? Did youmake it up, tell us about the
book.

So when I was pitching my second book, it I
actually hadn't really pitchedshoes. I was pitching clothing
embroidery. And when I wastalking with my editor, she's
like, well, there's kind ofactually a lot of clothing
embroidery out there already. Soif you wanted to do something
like that, we need to niche downa little bit. And when I had
sent her some samples of what Iwas doing, I had done a pair of

(21:04):
shoes in there, and she waslike, I really like these. I
think they're super cool. Canyou do more of these? And I was
like, Well, yeah. I mean, Ienjoyed stitching on these
shoes, and I could definitely domore of them and explore that.
She was like, take a coupleweeks stitch on some more shoes,
see how you feel about it andcome back to it. So that's what
I did. And then she took it toto the acquisitions board, and

(21:26):
then it's kind of like a biggroup, and they talk about it
and say, like, is this an ideawe want to move forward to
publishing? And so then they alldecide, and then then if it's a
yes, then it goes forward. Ifit's not, then it's like, not a
book, but this was a yes. Andthen you have like, kind of
parameters for, like, what's inyour book, how long it is maybe,

(21:46):
or, like, how many projects youneed to have in it, how long I
had to write the book. So then Ikind of had a timeline for what
I needed to work on and figureout, like, some different tips
and tricks that, like, would behelpful for when stitching on
shoes. Because as you're testingout these different things, like
you kind of figure out what isgood to do and what is not good
to do, right things like that.

Yeah, because you're actually doing it, and
it's, you know, as the expertyou're you want other people to
succeed in they're just tryingit. You know, for the first
time, you have two other books.Tell us about them. You have one
coming out, or they're allpublished.

My third one comes out in October. Oh, which
one is that? So my third book iscalled 3d botanical embroidery
and stump work. So it's allabout 3d plants. They're
poisonous, medicinal andcarnivorous plants, and a lot of
the pieces are wearable. Sothere's like, necklaces and

(22:44):
earrings, and there's a ring anda crown and all sorts of really
cool 3d pieces. So it's liketaking the embroidery out of the
hoop, off the fabric and makingit something totally different
that you haven't seen before.And I'm really excited

about it. I'm really excited about it too.
This is so fun because you'vereally, we've seen the evolution
of you start with the hoop. Thefirst book, I'm guessing, is
like, here's how to handembroidery and this different
stitches. The second one islike, let's do this on some
shoes, which is great and out ofthe box thinking. And the third
one is, take it out of the hoopand turn it into something else.
I love this evolution for you?

Yes, yeah. My first book is called How to
embroider texture and pattern,and it has 20 different
landscape patterns in there, soit kind of starts with beginner,
intermediate and advancedpatterns, and really talks a lot
about like different stitchesand textures. And in that book,
you also play around withstitching on different fabrics
that kind of add differentpattern and texture to your

(23:42):
design, which I think a lot ofpeople, when they first start
embroidery, think like, oh, Ineed to stitch on white or like
a plain fabric. And this kind ofhelps you explore different
things with that as well, too,along with combining different
stitches and maybe blending themand creating different denser
textures too.

What would you say to somebody who says, you know,
I'm not artsy enough to try it,but they're curious about hand
embroidery, and right nowthey're thinking, I got to get
all these books. What would yousay to them? I don't

think you have to be artsy. You just have
to have an interest in wantingto try it. And with embroidery,
you don't have to do all thethings. You could do an outline.
You could fill things in. Youdon't have, again, you don't
have to do all the stitches. Youcould use one or two of them.
You know, it's really asdetailed or simple as you want
to make it. I create thesethings called stick and stitch

(24:32):
patterns, or these, like watersoluble patterns that you stick
on something stitch over and itwashes away with warm water. And
with these are like coloringbook pages. So really, again,
you can do as much or as littleas you want with it. And so
that's what I always tellpeople. It's like, as detailed
or as simple as you want to makeit and then in the end, like
they wash away. So no one'sgoing to know if you didn't do

(24:53):
it all,

no one's going to know. What is some of the
feedback you get from some ofthe newbies that have tried.
Your kits, or some of theexperience makers that have
tried your books, what do theysay? It's gotta feel good.

It really does. Some of the people who
have tried some of my kitsrecently, like they're really
easy to follow. There's greatstep by step instructions in
there, and I love seeing like,the finished pieces people
create, which is reallyexciting. Earlier this week,
somebody shared a couple piecesfrom my shoe embroidery book.
She didn't do them on shoes, butshe still totally loved them.
And she was like, it's beengreat to just stitch these up.

(25:28):
And like, step by step,instructions are so fun in
there. And she's like, I'malready working on another one,
so I absolutely love them.

So they just send you notes on social media or
your website.

Yeah. I mean, people will just tag me in a
photo on Instagram and, like, Iget to see what they're working
on and things like that. Orthey'll send me an email, and
it's just really exciting tosee. Or, you know, if they come
for like, a workshop and comeback for another one or
something, they'll bring theirproject and say, Hey, this is
what I worked on and I finishedit up. Or, like, come back and
be like, hey, it's still inprogress, but it's getting
there. You know,

that's so fun. So we have to tell everybody you
are in Washington State, justoutside of Seattle. Are most of
your workshops there? Or do youtravel the country? I

do travel around. I will say most of my
workshops are kind of in theSeattle area. But when I travel
for shows and things like that,I also try to fit in workshops
and things like that as well,too.

Again, smart, smart marketing right there. She's
reaching out and touchingeverybody and getting them
inspired to create. If somebodywants to get started, the
upfront expense, not very much,the tools that they need. Talk
about that a little bit. What doI need to have in my crafting

(26:38):
stash to start hand embroidery?

I would recommend a good embroidery
hoop, a couple of differentembroidery needles, like they
make a great starter pack thatyou can get, and then just some
different embroidery thread anda pair of scissors and maybe
some like cotton fabric, and youcan just get going from there.
That's really all you need juststart and have fun and explore.
You've got to

have a saying for hand embroidery to get people to
think, Ah, it's not that big ofa deal. It's not intimidating at
all. When I ask people to sew,and I bring a sewing machine to
their face and say, Here, make apillow, then, like, their first
reaction is, like, I can't doit. My grandma used to sew. And
I go, Listen, it's a couple ofstraight stitches and a little
math, you'll figure it out.That's what I say. Do you have a

(27:23):
saying that you tell people thatkind of calms their nerves? I

usually say in class, like, it's, it's just
thread. You can always take itout, you know, when you like,
paint, or, like, you know, dosomething with metal or things
like that, it's a little morepermanent, you know. Or, like,
if you have to cut intosomething, like, you can't uncut
it. But with thread, you canalways just, like, take it out,
or cut it out and there'sthere's more thread. It's not a
big deal.

It goes back to my theory is you actually can't
make a mistake when you're beingcreative. Because I always say,
just take a left hand turn andturn it into something else. Or,
like, you say, it's just thread,take it out. Can you make a
mistake when you're hand

embroidering? Not really. I mean, you could
always cover it up or make itpart of your design as well,
too.

I love that cover it up. I used to host a show. It
was called Create and Craft. Itwas out of the UK. We would sell
kits. So we would sell a lot ofdyes. And I learned from all of
the experts, the craftingexperts there, because I was
hosting, they'd be like, Oh,Jane, if you mess up, just put a
butterfly on it. So it's kind ofthe same thing. Just cover it
up. They would just cover it upwith the butterfly. I'm like,

(28:27):
okay, so if there's ever amistake, even in I'm doing
anything, I'm like, I just put abutterfly on it. Nobody will
know. Yeah, are you doing campcraft away again this year? And
if you are doing it. Tell us allabout camp craft away. I think
it's fascinating.

Yes, actually, so camp craft away is
an adult summer craft camp thatmy friend and I co host outside
of Seattle. This is our fourthyear that we're co hosting it.
And yeah, we're having it. Wehave 25 local artists that are
coming to teach hands onworkshops, so you can do all
sorts of things, from broommaking to hand stitching to

(29:06):
stained glass to like terrazzoand punch needle and natural
dyeing and all sorts of reallycool, exciting stuff. And the
reason we started it so my cohost and I, we both hand
embroider, but we are creativeprofessionals, and we wanted to
be able to try other crafts andthings like that, and we just
found that we really didn't havethe time to do that, and so this

(29:28):
was us making the space for ourselves and other people to get
to learn from other artists thatwe really admire and enjoy.

Sarah Barnes from brown paper bag is your friend
and co host of Camp craft away,tell everybody where it is and
what the dates are, even ifthey're listening to this
podcast after the fact, you'llprobably do it again next year.
So give us some of the detailson that, and where can they find
more information?

Camp craft away is August, 1 through third
this year. You can find moredetails at Camp craft away. Dot
fund. Fun.

Oh, Dad, fun. How fun. I love it. It's like the
Lollapalooza for crafters,right? Yes, kind of, sorta,
except that your rock stars arethe experts teaching the
classes. 130 people being ableto show up is a lot friend,

yes, yeah. It's really exciting, because
we've grown every year, and weoutgrew the space last year, so
we had to find a bigger spacethis year, which was really
exciting to get to do, you

know? And I'm guessing you get people from all
over the country,

yeah, we actually have quite a few people
that come from different statesthat are like, I want to come
and do this, you know, which isamazing.

That's amazing. It's so awesome to talk to you
because you love what you do, Ifeel like there's just layers of
all this goodness and thiscreativity that is part of your
life. And adding camp craft awayon top of everything else is
really a great story, becauseyou worked in a corporate
office, and now you're doingwhat you love. What do you say

(30:58):
to

that? I mean, I just kind of feel like I'm
living the dream. You know, Inever thought I would do this
growing up. On my wall in myhouse, I have this paper from
when I was in kindergarten, thefirst day of kindergarten. It's
like a photo of me and myparents, and you fill out what
you wanted to do when you wouldgrow up. And on there, it says,
What do you want to be when yougrow up? And it says, I want to

(31:20):
be a cowgirl at the rodeo. Andso I always look at that and
laugh, because it's like, well,I didn't do that, but I didn't
really know what I wanted to doeither. And now I'm now I'm
doing this. So

I mean, cowgirl at the rodeo, they get to wear cute
outfits, I guess. And you know,yeah, and if you So, if you were
that little girl today, and youknew what you would become. What
would it say in that shortlittle blurb?

Um, I mean, I think it would probably say,
like, super creative crafter, orsomething like that. When I was
really little, I loved to color,like I entered all the coloring
contests. And I think that, andthe fact that my mom was, like,
super crafty, and really mysisters and I did all the crafts
under the sun with her, thosetwo things really inspired me to

(32:12):
give back into embroidery. Andalso felt like helps me feel
like I can kind of take onanything that I really want to,
like accomplish and do so it'sreally helped me feel that I can
do things in my business.

Yeah, it's amazing. You are inspired from the start.
You are watching mom and sistersdo it, and it really just stuck.
And I totally feel you on that,because I was also inspired by
my mom, who was very creativeand crafty. I ask everybody that
I talk to the same question. SoI'll ask you, what does
creativity mean to you?

I mean, I think it just means trying new
things or trying things ingeneral. You know, because you
don't know until you try it ifyou like it or not,

right? Like, you could be a cowgirl at the rodeo
like that. Could be yourcreativity. Honestly, you don't
know it until you try it. That'swhat creativity means to you,
and then something that peopleshould live by and think about,
has that definition changed foryou over the years?

Maybe a little bit. I think, I think
sometimes there is, like alittle fear about trying things,
maybe especially as you growolder into more adulthood,
because we get a little more setin our ways, versus when we're
children or younger, there'smore freedom and excitement
around trying things. So I thinkmaybe that plays into it

a little bit. I like it. I like the
thoughtfulness behind thatanswer. People want to learn
more. I've been talking allabout your website. We haven't
even mentioned it once. So tellus where they can buy a kit.
They can find your books. Theycan read those blogs. Talk about
the website, the socials, allthe good stuff.

Well, you can find me at m, creative j.com,
you can also find me onInstagram, Pinterest, Facebook
and YouTube. At m, creative J,

and you do all the work. You put everything out.
Yes, it's all me. You're likeyou are. I don't think you
sleep.

Just you gotta reuse your content. That's
what I tell you. Gotta make itwork for you.

That is the secret, friends, we just waited to the
end of the show. Reuse yourcontent. Melissa from M
creative. J, amazing informationabout hand embroidery. I'm super
excited because I really want totry this. I haven't done it. I
think everyone should go to Mcreative j.com, that is where

(34:35):
you can find all of theinformation you need on Melissa.
So whether you're stitching yourfirst flower or dreaming up your
next creative business. MoveMelissa story is proof that
creativity grows when younurture it, one thread, one
project, one idea at a time. Herjourney is a reminder that

(34:56):
whimsy has a place in our workand nature can be our muse. And
and that, yes, you can turn yourpassion into a thriving creative
business. So pick up thatneedle, follow your curiosity
and let your hands and heartlead the way for more
inspiration and maybe even yournext embroidery project. Be sure

(35:17):
to check out m creative j.comand her beautiful books and all
of those amazing kits. MelissaGalbraith, thank you so much for
joining us on creative living.Thank you, Jane,

VO (35:30):
live better creatively for more inspiration. Visit. Jane
claus.com thank you forlistening. Jane.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Coloring with Thread: Hand Embroidery Basics & Beyond

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

All Episodes

Coloring with Thread: Hand Embroidery Basics & Beyond

On Purpose with Jay Shetty