Ali

Women In My Life: The Tie That Binds

Ain't nothin' so precious as a firstborn child. - Paul Congress

She is my camia flower, fair and pretty. My favorite child.

Ali. 

Named after a dark-eyed, long-tressed, tall, and beautiful model and actress.

I love her best because she was our first miracle. She was the beginning. A fulfillment of love, the promise of our infinity.

I wanted to remember that moment like a snapshot I could go back to whenever I wanted. So, why not preserve something of hers, like her name, perhaps - for all eternity.

Maybe have it engraved on a brass star that would be embedded in the sidewalk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  

Or why not stitch it on her baby tee?

Embroidery was both fun and relaxing, plus it was an easy way to create beautiful art with fabric and thread. Mum showed me how to select the needle, snip the bit of string, and find the eye. I could certainly start with that.

I chose to use the stem stitch, perfect for creating smooth outlines but would work as well for both straight lines and curves.

Carefully following the penciled outline of the letters, I began taking dainty little stitches with a two-strand red DMC floss. First I followed the curve of the A, looping its end across and back around. With the next lowercase letter, I knew that I was halfway toward a finished project.

Embroidering the i was a cinch. It was the French knot that capped it that was the challenge. This stitch involved wrapping the needle to form a knot on the surface of the fabric. It could be tricky, as I had earlier learned in sixth grade Home Ec, but I remembered to hold the working thread taut, but not too tight.

And voila! I was done. Spare and simple.

Time had inched by since then. Limped along. Then it slowed and stilled, focusing back on that time in my life. Suddenly, I could see clearly, as through a looking glass, and I couldn't help gushing.

Delicate.

Precious.

So was the embroidered tee.