My pandemic hobby — Part 2: A tale of two swans

This is the second part of a column the writer shared about a hobby she began during the COVID-19 lockdown and has carried on afterward. Please read the first part, My pandemic hobby.

The next embroidery project that I really enjoyed was of two white swans.

I came to really like the company I got this from on Etsy.com. The company is called Melburyhill and is based in England. The instructions are very thorough and easy to follow.

Tanya Tungilik

I found that the vintage embroidery kits were very sparse and confusing with their instructions. The vintage kits also would have floss and yarn colours all unlabelled and unsorted. You would have to play a guessing game on what colours would correspond with their description of it, you really needed sunlight to examine the colours carefully. I’ve made colour mistakes with almost all the vintage kits.

With Melburyhill, all the Appleton wool yarn are clearly labelled and bundled separately. The instructions on how to do each stitch is also generally easy to follow. The embroidery kits are more of a modern style of Jacobean Crewel. I love their designs; their compositions and colours are beautiful. I also like symmetry; it’s aesthetically pleasing to me, and this kit was a great example of that.

I learned several new stitches with this kit. My favourite was the fly stitch that was used to make the wings of the swans. The other stitches I used were shaded couch laid work, chain stitch, stem stitch, padded satin stitch, and the dreaded French knot. 

I liked these white swans so much that I got the black swans as well. I eventually made these into cushions. I also made some kits from Melburyhill into cushions because I was running out of room to hang them.

I haven’t sold any of the embroidery projects I have done because it doesn’t feel right to sell something from someone else’s design. I have given some away to my family and friends though. If I decide to make designs of my own making, perhaps I might sell some.

I have so much floss and yarn left over from all my projects, that I probably could start making my own projects.

For now, I will keep using these kits, because I like following clear instructions and having all the required floss/yarn provided.

I’m not a creative person. I have more of a logical mind and prefer to draw or embroider what I can see personally, or in this case, a design to follow.

When I try to draw from my own imagination, it looks distorted and not how I wanted it to look, because I prefer realism.

Unlike my talented brother, Jesse, who is very creative. I admire his creativity and how his art is personal to him, whether it’s about social issues he cares about or from his own trauma.

We both have different ways of dealing with our emotions through art, and both are valid methods that work for us.

Tanya Tungilik lives in Rankin Inlet. She shared this story about the hobby she picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nunatsiaq News is encouraging Inuit readers in Nunavut’s communities to submit freelance articles about what’s going on in their world. Contact editors@nunatsiaq.com.