Wow, 80 weeks in a row!

As someone who struggles with consistency and is easily distracted by the next shiny thing, I am giving myself a shout out today for staying focused for 80 weeks in a row.

🥳

(When we hit 100 we’ll have a special celebration)

I think it was around January 2024 when I decided to commit to sending out a newsletter every week. I don’t think I actually said it in an email to you all, or maybe I did, but I wanted to stick to something over a long period of time.

I know I’m not the first person who struggles with sticking to a decision. Especially when the regular steps seem small or not particularly impactful or when a result isn’t visible for a long time.

It’s a bit like that with exercise isn’t it? Or in fact anything we undertake that takes a while to build.

I’m learning a valuable lesson through sticking with the weekly threads, and that is that from little things, big things grow 🎶🎶🎶

Yes of course that’s a song, it might now get stuck in your head, haha! But the line is also very true.

Probably so true and so applicable that we have learned to ignore it simply because it’s not the next loud, shiny, new thing.

I know that a weekly newsletter is hardly changing the world for the better, but there’s something else in it that might also be helpful for you and it’s this…

When I said from little things big things grow, I didn’t mean that something in my business has grown big because I kept up a weekly newsletter. It’s a belief that’s grown, or rather changed.

I realised a long time ago that I have little faith in doing small things regularly. 🫤

For most of my life I had a “go big or go home” kind of attitude. I often dismissed the small things because I thought they weren’t enough.

That came from my own feeling of not being enough; not smart enough and not hard working enough were my two biggest inner critics.

So any attempt to start small and build up over time with consistency was met with quitting or changing course not long after I started.

To give you an example, between the ages of 18 and 29 I attended four different universities, studying three different courses (psychology, interior design, graphic design), finishing one (graphic design). I also went to TAFE college to study architectural drafting (in Australia this is like a technical college where you get a diploma or certificate but not a degree). I worked as a draftsperson, receptionist, waitress, bakery assistant, bar tender, college tutor, freelance designer, shop assistant. That’s just the jobs I remember.

But back to what’s changed by the simple act of writing 80 weekly newsletters in a row.

I’ve changed.

I now look back over the 80 weeks and realise that I can be consistent. I can do what I say I will do. Plus looking back over the content it’s great to see how much I’ve put together. Now when I think about doing other stuff in small regular steps it’s no longer daunting or boring or “pointless”. I’ve actually started exercising (🤯) !! I do my best each day and no longer dismiss the low energy days as failure. And I also remind myself that a big reason I now exercise is to practice consistency.

Also on the days that I think I can’t be bothered or that if I don’t exercise today it doesn’t matter, I think back to my newsletter and those days when I felt I had nothing interesting to say or to share but I still wrote it and sent it! (Sorry for the boring ones, haha!)

I believe that the change we want to see in our lives has to happen inside first. We can bend over backwards and stand on our eyelashes trying to forcibly change our circumstances, but unless we change whatever is driving us, no amount of effort will create lasting change in our lives.

Trust me, I’ve tried and I got exhausted 😂

Now, what a lovely segway into the world of embroidery by the way…🪡

Embroidery is literally tons of small and seemingly insignificant steps made consistently over a period of time.

So before diving into this weeks “Close Up” let me assure you, that if you too struggle with consistency, or feel that you can’t finish things you started or commit long term to some things… change is possible, one small step at a time. (oh that sounds so cheesy, haha! 😂🧀, but you know it’s true!!)

Close up

Let’s do another motif!

I’m working on my pink top and you’re working on whatever you dug up from your piles. Many of you told me last week that you’ll go rummaging and that you’ll do this project along side me. If you’re reading this for the first time you can go back to last weeks newsletter and see the project we started…

Today I’m adding a stem and some leaves. In the video I show you how to hand draw these easily... E-A-S-I-L-Y!!!

Leaves are a great thing to practice stitching because you can add them onto anything one at a time or a cluster or along a straight or curvy stem

Let’s go!

Maker Of The Week

- MEGAN ALEX -

💍🥂🪡

Could everyone please stand as we raise a toast to Megan Alex who not only got married just a week ago but she also…. drumroll…

Hand embroidered her wedding dress!! aaaaarghhhh! 🥳

This section is going to be longer than usual because we get to see her dress, and a pic of her and her new hubby… awwww… and also when Megan first got in touch with me last year for advice on this project we realised… we could be related… mic drop.🎤😳

Megan used a combination of different motifs from a variety of my patterns.

She stitched it while stretched onto a frame and through a water soluble stabiliser.

OK now let me tell you what we found out when we started emailing each other.

It’s wild.

Firstly we’ve never met in person. I live in Australia and Megan lives in America.

She reached out to me asking for advice and saying she wanted to embroider her wedding dress using Polish folk motifs because she has ancestors that came to America from Poland.

We exchanged a few emails about embroidery, her fabric of choice, patterns and so on. Then she tells me casually that her grandfather was originally from a town called Iwonicz and she tells me his surname.

What?! I nearly choked on my coffee and immediately started replying typing so fast the keyboard was smoking!

Firstly that town is only a few kilometres where I’m originally from and my sister is now married to a guy with the same surname who is also from that town! The town is also small enough that it is highly likely to be traced back to the same family.

So technically, via my niece, Megan and I could be distant relatives.

Megan, you really should have invited me to your wedding, I mean honestly… 🙄

Crazy story, gorgeous wedding dress, and what a happy couple 🥂❤️ Congratulations to you both!

From The Tribe

Firstly welcome to our 44 new Wednesday Tribe members, yaaay! I hope you love every project, pattern and live session we have together. And if there’s something you don’t like, please contact the HR department… no I’m kidding!! Email me! Email me with anything, I’m always here for you.

On the first Wednesday of October (two days ago) I sent out this months pattern, magazine and tutorial. As always, I stitch the design in 2-3 colour styles. Then I pick one to go on the front cover of our monthly magazine. Except this month I got stuck because I couldn’t decide between these two very different colours.

(It’s actually why I sent it late in the afternoon instead of first thing in the morning like usual!)

Personally I loved the way the blue one looked on the cover and that the hoop was the main focus, but I preferred the layout of the orange one. Being a graphic designer by trade, I do all my own design work, but I just couldn’t make the typography work around the blue version. If you’re in the tribe, I hope the pattern and the colours bring you joy.

Let me know in the comments which colour you prefer.

Till Next Week!

My friend, thank you for reading this far down and staying awake! 🤗

It is now 3:50pm and you know what, I’m going to sneak out early. I’ll tip toe past the CEO’s office and go for a walk in the nature reserve that is right across the road.

The birds are singing their beautiful afternoon song, and at this time of year there’s the most picturesque tree that flowers. Its huge branches are clustered in teeny tiny little white flowers and they drop gently with the breeze. Sometimes it looks like snow or maybe wedding confetti 😊

I’ll take a photo and send it to you next week. Have a beautiful, peaceful and restful weekend. Tomorrow I’m helping my mother in law clean her house while she makes me the best sandwiches a girl could dream of.

Big hugs xxx

Kasia 💕

Kasia’s Weekly Threads - Issue 80