Reuniting with Stitching: Where It All Began
Quote: "The threads that shape us are often the ones that have always been there." – Anonymous
When I look back over the past twenty years, it’s clear that stitching has always been there, quietly, patiently, waiting for me.
Some of my earliest memories of embroidery come from long summers spent in the south of France. We would travel down from the UK to stay with my French grandparents for the holidays. The afternoons were hot, slow, and silent. My grandpa was having his siesta, which meant we had to stay indoors and be very quiet.
My grandmother was wonderfully manual. She tried to teach me knitting and crochet (I wasn’t very good), but then she introduced me to tapestry stitching. It was colourful, a little kitsch, and I loved it instantly. She taught me half stitch, and without realising it, she planted a seed. A passion was born there, in the calm of those summer afternoons, even if it wouldn’t fully bloom until much later.
Fifteen years passed.
Stitching returned to my life when I needed it most. I was living in Dijon, teaching English to adults in my first proper job. I didn’t know many people, and if I’m honest, I felt very lonely.
Next to the language school was a haberdashery I walked past at least twice a day. One afternoon, I stopped and looked in the window.
There were a few tiny cross stitch kits. The pull was immediate. I went inside, bought one, and took it home.
That evening, as I stitched, something shifted. I felt accompanied. Whole again. I couldn’t wait to get home each day just to continue stitching. At that time, stitching filled a real void. It gently reminded me of who I was and reignited a passion I had almost forgotten.
From that first tiny kit, everything began to grow. I started stitching larger and larger pieces, often with seasonal themes, and I practised every day. With each stitch, my confidence grew. I felt calmer, more grounded, better.
Life was moving forward too. We got married. We welcomed our first child, Thomas. I stitched a lot for him, using kits and designs from the many cross stitch magazines available at the time. Stitching had become part of my everyday life, a constant thread running through change, growth, and new beginnings.
At that point, I still had no idea that this quiet passion would one day become my profession.
By the time we were living in Provence, I was still teaching languages, expecting our second child, and still stitching, but I was beginning to run out of original ideas that truly excited me. After Lily was born, I was lucky enough to have time at home. My days found a new rhythm: caring for my little ones and stitching whenever I could.
Then a friend asked me a simple question. Could I design a Catalan sampler? He and my husband are both from that region and dreamed of an illustrated alphabet inspired by it.
I began by sketching ideas, drawing motifs, and slowly building a chart. Once the foundations were in place, I started stitching. Two years later, it was finished.
That piece, born of time, patience, and curiosity, marked the true beginning of what would become Tom & Lily Creations.
Looking back now, it’s clear that stitching didn’t suddenly appear in my life as a career choice. It grew quietly, steadily, returning to me when I needed it most, and evolving naturally alongside my life.
Sometimes, the most important threads are the ones that have been there all along.
Happy Stitching!
