She sews sea shells...

at the stormy seashore

We’re at the beach this week, and it happens to be a sort of stormy day, so we’ve been more inside than usual. Luckily we’re here with Mamie, who happens to be an expert crafter.

Mamie learned to embroider when she lived in Richmond, Virginia in 1969. She was across-the-street neighbors with an outlaw biker who taught her how to do a freestyle type of embroidery, improvising in a way that matched her painting and illustration style. For a while she worked as an embroiderer for a store called Exit. She embroidered intricate sunrises and flowers and mushrooms on pea coat sleeves (so stiff she did not need an embroidery hoop) and on jeans and jean shirts. She paid it forward by teaching embroidery in a juvenile detention facility. Some of the kids really got into it. Their favorite pattern was a sunshine, which is one of the easier images to learn.

Mamie also says she once flew on a plane to Florida next to Roosevelt Grier, and he was embroidering too. Rosey Grier was a famous NFL player, actor, and author of Rosey Grier’s Needlepoint for Men—proof, she says, that “it’s not just for old ladies.”

We think sewing crafts are great—good for dressing up or repurposing something old, and also nice for a rainy afternoon.

Mamie says good sewing supplies for beginning embroiderers include:

-Assorted embroidery or tapestry needles (these are thicker and have a bigger eye for embroidery floss.

-Embroidery hoops (Mamie prefers the wooden kind).

-Embroidery floss

-Scissors (small and sharp)

-A seam ripper is a good idea

-A container like an old baking soda tin works well to keep your needles from poking you.

Here are some of the craft project we worked on today:

Bea embroidered a starfish and a horseshoe crab on a bag we use for shelling. (Thin tote bags are also great for practice.) She drew her pattern first, then used a chain stitch.

Mamie is working on a starfish, using French knots for detail:

I made a mermaid friendship bracelet for Bea. I kept getting my threads jumbled (it was windy!) and so I added a few sea shells for decoration (and disguise). Small sea shells with holes you can sew through are great for crafting—like nature’s beads!

Mamie also likes to add sea shells to clothes she wears at the beach. This beach sweater is a favorite:

Do you like to sew? Any other favorite beachy or rainy-day crafts?