I used to be quite a smart kid in school. Well, I was one of those kids who people would call a goody two shoes. I was terrified to colour outside the lines, and I kept my head down and did my work. It was great; I got good grades and finished secondary school and college at a pretty good pace. I may have struggled to have a creative output, but I thought I was doing pretty well at that point in my life.
Then I went to university, and I really struggled. I couldn’t focus during class and was planning to drop out at least twice a week. I couldn’t understand what was going wrong, but I just couldn’t get a handle on my studies and focus. And what’s worse is that I had so many thoughts and ideas; I had no way of processing them.
I remembered something I did during the pandemic: embroidery.
My family are complete musical theatre buffs. And my mam and grandma used to cross-stitch, so they taught me how to do it myself. When I went on TikTok and saw a creator making embroidery kits based on musicals, I basically lost my mind. I started doing them and became obsessed. So obsessed that I brought them to uni with me. And strangely, my focus improved massively. My anxiety attacks completely reduced, and I was able to process what was actually being said to me. It felt freeing; being able to do something with my hands meant that I was able to focus all of the energy into what I was listening to.
Then this year I was diagnosed with ADHD, and everything made sense. The hyperactivity? It had a reason.
And I found out that the reason I was doing so well with my focus now was that embroidery basically became a fidget for me.
After doing a few kits, Christmas was coming up soon, and my little sister was in LOVE with Taylor Swift, so I thought, “You know what? I’m gonna make my own embroidery pattern”. And I did!
I created an embroidery pattern based on my little sister’s favourite Taylor Swift song, and she loved it!
After that, I started creating embroidery pieces for my friends. Mainly my artist and DnD friends. I would create embroidery patterns based on my friends’ characters, and it was so freeing.
It felt like I got my creativity back. And my life finally had a point of stability.
I was making these little embroidery patterns and finding my own style. And then I realised I’m probably not the only person with ADHD who has loads of ideas but struggles with focus and finding a creative outlet. During uni, my friends also encouraged me to start my own business with my embroidery. So I thought, you know what? I’m gonna do it.
I’m gonna make my own embroidery kits where people can learn embroidery. But not only that, so that neurodivergent people like me can find an outlet to unleash their creativity in a way that brings calm and stability into the absolute chaos that is their brains.
Launching Loopy Embroidery has given me inspiration to keep creating. I used to tell my artist friends that I couldn’t draw to save my life, but I know that I can sew. And it’s not only developed my embroidery creativity, but it’s also improved my drawing. Every time I make an embroidery design, I challenge myself to learn one new type of stitch. Because there are hundreds, and I never want to stop learning. I’ve been able to develop my own art style by making these nerdy and whimsical patterns inspired by the things I love. And it’s really encouraged me to live in the moment and enjoy the experiences around me.
I joined The Rebel School as I have struggled to find my audience and nabbing that first sale. I’m not embarrassed to say that I was about to give up and quit. Rebel has given me the inspiration and confidence to keep going and not give up. I may not have sales now, but if I keep working, I will find my audience and my people!
The dream is to keep creating embroidery designs and kits.
If I can even inspire one customer to create their own embroidery designs and share the craft, then that’s a win in my book.
