A quick start to slow stitching

An ironic title? Let me explain...

I know, A quick start to slow stitching sounds like a rather bizarre title for a slow stitch post — but bear with me.

When I run slow stitch workshops, I notice that people usually fall into one of two camps. Some can’t wait to dive straight into the pile of fabric, threads and other textile treasures, treating it a bit like a visit to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Others, though, feel completely overwhelmed — paralysed by too much choice and unsure where to begin.

It’s for that second group (and, if I’m honest, for all of us on certain days) that I’ve taken things right back to basics.

To help remove some of that overwhelm, I’ve put together a beginner’s slow stitch kit that reduces everything down to just two pieces of fabric. That’s it.

There’s no collage work or piecing together a design — I’ll save that for another time.

This pack is simply about doodling with easy stitches on a pre‑printed piece of fabric and giving yourself permission to have a play.

There’s no need to think about design at all. You work with what you’ve got.

I’ve included a small selection of threads, three tiny buttons and a needle — just enough to get you started.

And that’s where the “quick start” comes in. Because there’s nothing to assemble and very few decisions to make, you can begin stitching almost straight away. You’re simply decorating an existing piece of fabric, doodling with thread, slowing down — and having fun.

I’ve made a short video to show you what’s inside the pack. Don’t get too excited — it’s simple, unpolished, and very much me — but it gives you a clearer, more visual sense of what you’ll find inside. I hope you enjoy it.

It’s easy to take with you

Because it’s such a small pack, it doesn’t take up much space and is easy to carry around with you.

In fact, I took one with me on holiday last summer in our campervan and used it for little stitching doodles whenever I found a few spare minutes.

It turned out to be especially helpful on one particularly stormy day (summer in Scotland 🙂), when we had to hunker down for a few hours. I was able to stitch away quite happily, filling the time by making my design as bright and colourful as possible and stitching into all the little gaps.

Here’s what I came up with:

An example of last summer’s stitching

It measures approximately 49cm long and is only 6cm wide, but it’s an absolute riot of colour and I loved making it. It’s also one of the pieces that elicits the best response when it gets passed around the table at the slow stitching sessions.

The beauty is in the simplicity

While this may look complicated at first glance, it really isn’t.

All I’ve done is embellish the pattern that already exists on the fabric and gradually filled in the gaps.

In my head, the only thing I wanted to do was add colour where there was white. I stitched into as many spaces as I could, letting the design build slowly and naturally as I went.

No difficult stitches

You can use very simple stitches — things like running stitch and backstitch, or perhaps a cross stitch. You might also add the occasional star stitch or seed stitch if you feel like experimenting.

They’re all variations of the straight stitch, so there’s nothing complicated to learn. Just doodling with your needle and thread, making it up as you go along.

To help you get started

If you fancy having a go yourself, I’ve put together a small number of packs and added them to my Etsy shop (which I mentioned a few posts back).

I’m also making some for my High Peak Open Studio event, and it felt right to share a few more online too.

You’re very welcome to have a look and see what you think.

For now, I’m offering these packs within the UK and to France, Spain and Germany while I take a little more time to work through the practicalities of shipping further afield. I want to be sure that when I do open things up more widely, the process feels fair, straightforward and reliable for everyone — so I’m choosing to take things one careful step at a time.

For now, I need to get back to creating stock for the High Peak Open Arts festival.

Have a lovely week.

Happy stitching,
Jane x