Alice Per found her wonderland to the Witswatersrand Embroiderer Guild based out of Roosevelt Park Recreation Centre. Making sure not to miss a day the past nine years, there, she not only gets to create threaded arts of beauty, she also teaches basics techniques that will have others creating their own.
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She had joined the guild after being encouraged by a friend. Though she started off just cross-stitching, through her time at the guild she has gone on to learn variations of stitches. Her pet hate however, probably is long and short stitching. “This type of stitching is for shading and to get this right, takes a lot of patience and time,” she shared.
Spending her Tuesday mornings at the club has become her weekly psychotherapy session. There, she and other club members gather, share a chat and laugh, cry if need be, and most importantly embroider together. With each one doing something they enjoy to do while sharing not only thread but ideas too. Here, she has found her community and has become a major highlight to their week.
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Per hoped people would do away with the idea that this skill is just for old ladies. “It’s not; it’s for all and from all walks of life. It is also very therapeutic.”
Per teaches people five basic stitches as a way to start them on their journey, encourages them so they see if this is what they want to continue to do. Through her one learns stem, chain, back, and button- hole stitches, as well as French knots. Through having learned these, one can create anything.
Teaching was never really something she thought she would do. It was only after Covid-19 that she was approached by her club’s chairperson with a request to help stimulate an interest in embroidery. In the two years she has been teaching, she has found her students approach embroidery with trepidation. “Hopefully, by the time they leave, I have given them the courage to say ‘You know, I can do this, I just have to try’,” she described.
Per says it’s totally fine for someone to come to guild not knowing how to sew on a button, because by the time you leave the guild you’ll be sewing on any buttons.
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