Only a few of my friends know that

I once embroidered and embellished garments for a designer in Boston, who showed their clothing line in trunk shows in New York.......................Have I ever told you that?..........dear readers??

Back in the late 90' s and very early 2000's, I was flipping through a sewing magazine and casually looked through the "wanted ads" in the back. There was an ad for these folks, looking for a seamstress, who would like to work in a creative work space.................in Massachusetts.The word seamstress did not register with me, nor did the word Massachusetts................what got my attention was the word creative work space............... Now, at that time, I was a stay home wife and mother of three young children. My husband and I have always lived in Texas. There would be no way, ever , that my husband would consider packing up to move to Massachusetts to allow me to follow my dream................nor would I at that time be brave enough to do so. However, all afternoon, that ad hung in my mind. I came up with a better idea, that just might work for the designer in Massachusetts, and for me. I decided to call them. What is the worst that could happen???  They could laugh after hearing my idea and hang up...............and no one would know ...............but me............I could live with that..............

So nervously, I dialed the long distance number.............to my relief, a pleasant sounding voice answered. I told her who I was, where I lived, and that I could not possibly move to Massachusetts..............but that I had another idea, if she was willing to listen...................she did!................and she did not laugh!!!

I basically told her about the idea of embroidering and embellishing her garments.............and mailing them back and forth.( By the way, this is before we had purchased a computer, so I had no way of emailing her photos of my work. )

To my complete delight.................she thought that was a wonderful idea. And within the week, I had samples of my embroidery stitched and ideas for designs all packed up into a portfolio and on it's way to the outside of Boston. Within a few days a phone call came to me, telling me that they loved my work and my ideas and so for about 4 years, I had a job of embellishing garments for them.

Some pieces had holes, where they had accidentally gotten torn from a model. I was able to stitch over these to make the piece sellable. Some were beautiful sleepwear gowns where I" cut work" the top neck line. I spent my days taking care of my family and my home..............and then I would stitch the night away up until around 3 A.M. The designer paid me fairly, but it was not an amount that would make me rich in the future. I was just excited that someone................out there.............wanted my embroidery! This job ended, on good notes............. due to life's interruptions with the designer,  that occur now and then..........we all get those.

One important thing I learned through this wonderful experience..................don't be afraid to follow your heart, no matter where you live or who might laugh at you! 

Through the years, I have had a cross stitch sample purchased from a company............who I foolishly allowed to keep the rights to my work after the payment.............never again..........

I have submitted various items to various magazines to have them either reject or to lose the item all together.......................never again..

And then, up until about a year ago............I did custom work for a lady who lived a space away from here. She kept me busy................but the pay was extremely small for the amount of work I was doing............and I grew to not like custom work...............

And so, here I am..............still stitching..............still trying to find that "creative work space"....................sure of what I will not do again..............but wondering............what is it that I really should do..................?

And that's the story of my journey in my life of stitches.

How about you? Have you had a journey.........doing what you love.............but still seeking opportunities or answers?

I would love to hear!