5 things to do when your stitching gets frustrating

Has this ever happened to you? You're going along, stitching normally, and then the mother of all knots appears. You try to remove the knot, but what happens after this can only be described as catastrophic. The floss frays and splits, more knots appear, you start crying, and then the scissors or seam ripper comes out.

I'm here to tell you that you're not alone.

I've been stitching for a while now, learning from books, videos, blogs, and much of my own trial/error/practice. I've blogged, taught online classes, worked with people one-on-one, and even written a book. In my mind, I should never have trouble with stitching. Ever.

My mind doesn't know what it's talking about.

You see, it's normal to think that when you're just getting started with a new craft or technique that you will run into problems. That you'll make mistakes or struggle for a bit. But the expectation is that you'll reach a level of mastery where mistakes don't happen.

I think that's a lie.

Lately I've been doing all the same things that I've been doing that have been working well for so long. But I've run into issues. Far more than I have had for a long while. Threads knotting or pulling through. Needles catching and floss fraying. Or maybe the embroidery just doesn't look like I want it to. And maybe this is a new lie that I'm telling myself, but I think that these things just happen sometimes. No matter how long you've been at it. Sometimes you just get in a stitching funk.

But there's hope. Any time that these issues come up, I have a few ways to be able to press on.

1. Try it again. But not too much. It's good to not give up, but the more you run into the same problem over and over, the more frustrated you'll get, and that usually makes it worse.

2. Look for an alternative. If a particular stitch or material isn't working, see if you can substitute another.

3. Ask for help. Going to an expert is great, but even just putting the question out there to your crafty friends will help you get ideas for fixing the issue.

4. Stop. Just stop and work on something else for a while.

5. Take a breath and move on. This can be hard, but learning to accept that these are just little blips is the best thing you can do. Keep stitching because it's going to be okay.

Remember, this post comes to you because I've been working through my own stitching struggles. Seriously, you're not alone. Keep on stitchin'!