Over the weekend, I shared this photo in Instagram, explaining how my daughter had found and fixed a hole in her cuddly all by herself. I was impressed for several reasons:
1. I have always mended injured cuddlies in the past.
2. I didn't know how comprehensively well stocked her sewing box was. I'm not even sure where some of that stuff came from. She has obviously inherited my ability to
3. After repairing the hole using thread to match the fur, Isabel felt that she should embroider over her stitches in a brighter colour so that her cuddly could be proud of his scar. (At this point I dissolved in a heap of weepy pride.)
The photo on Instagram attracted a few comments, which I wanted to share with Isabel. She's always very interested in what I post and what people say and as this time the comments were really about her, she was even more keen to see.
She was particularly impressed when @soxtherapist* said "You're raising a confident fiber artist right there!" and she had two questions: what's a fiber (or fibre, if you're in the UK like us) artist and who's @soxtherapist?
I'm not sure that I realised before this how inspirational this sort of comment can be. I know that I'm always thrilled to read good things about my work, but Isabel was so excited. She has been playing with all things stitchy since that moment, looking for more cuddlies in need of first aid, working on some cross stitch, practising her crochet and gathering craft supplies for her 'fibre art' work.
This stuff is important. That one little comment has inspired her and sparked an idea of what her future could be. Tell your daughter, your son, your mum, your best friend, your Instagram friend, how amazing they are, how beautiful their work is, how happy you are that they shared it. You have no idea what you might set in motion, what dreams and plans and wonderful futures might result from it.
* @soxtherapist is an independent designer who came up with the most brilliant way of working the heel in socks, the Fish Lips Kiss heel. You can find her here on Ravelry. Tell her I sent you with thanks for taking the time to share a few kind words with a little girl she doesn't know.
