Such a question can really only be asked by a right hander…
I was talking with some people yesterday, about writing my left-handed embroidery book. One of them, who is right-handed, said “Well, its all just common sense really.” I just stopped and stared at her, and said, “That is SUCH a right-handed thing to say!”
I ask all you right-handed people: How would you feel if you were a less-than-confident stitcher, and the only embroidery book you had available to you was written entirely for left-handers? Would you feel confident to be able to properly interpret the instructions in order to come up with the correct right-handed result? If you were trying to do a particularly tricky stitch, do you think that it could be even just slightly difficult?
This is what it is like for many of us left-handers who live in a right-handed world. Some are better than others at mentally flipping or rotating everything to convert instructions into left-handed instructions. Some do not feel confident about it at all.
They are exactly the people that I am writing my left-handed embroidery stitch book for. I want left handers to feel that they can be confident in learning and mastering new stitches, because they will have instructions written just for them.
So all you right-handers, please don’t begrudge left-handers this exciting opportunity. Sure, you may not think it is important or necessary, but from all the excited emails I am getting from left-handers who are just waiting for this book, there are many left-handers out there who DO think it is necessary!
There is also the fact that this book can benefit right-handers too – those who are wanting to teach left-handers how to embroider. The book will show the left-handed instructions for each of the stitches, but will also show a single view of how right-handers would do it. This is so that right-handed teachers or instructors can remember how they would do it, and compare it with the left-handed way. Just a small way to make the book even more useful to more people.
OK, I’ll get down off my soapbox now… 🙂
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
I am left handed and have a left handed book with excellent instructions. Also, if you do Hardanger Janice Love has instructions for left handed people.
I will be watching for you new book, please post a message on your blog when it is in the stores.
Hi Needleworker,
Yes, there are books out there with some left-handed instructions in them, including my own previous books. But I wanted to make a book specifically for left handed stitchers that has a LOT more in it than any of the previous left handed books.
I will certainly be announcing my left handed embroidery book here on my blog when it is available! Have no fear of that! 🙂
Don’t worry, Yvette, not all right handers are that selfish.
Even with stitches that I have done for years, I still need to see a picture sometimes to refresh my memory. I KNOW that I would really struggle to translate it from a left handed view to my right handed perspective, so I can appreciate left handed stitchers need for your book.
Hi Coral-Seas,
Thanks for your encouragement. It is nice to hear from a right hander who supports the idea of the book! I know that you’re not all selfish people. Maybe its only the selfish ones that see fit to comment on the perceived irrelevance of the book. 🙂
And to defend right-handed people, some of my best friends are right-handed!
I’m mostly right handed, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be in a situation to try to teach anyone embroidery (left or right handed). Even so, I think a comprehensive source for left-handers would be great.
I'm looking forward to your book. I'm not left-handed, but my 11-year-old daughter is, and my attempt to teach her to knit did not go well.
Will your book cover common embroidery stitches or will it specialize in whitework?
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for your comment. I do hope that you can use my book to have some great success teaching your daughter to embroider.
Sorry to hear that the knitting didn’t go so well. Were you teaching her right handed or were you trying to flip it to teach her left handed? I am left handed, but was taught to knit right handed.
I’n going to write a post on what’s going to be in the book – a provisional list of stitches. No, it does not focus on whitework. It is a fairly comprehensive stitch dictionary, with stitches from all different types of surface embroidery. There are a couple of counted stitches as well, but that’s not the main focus. So, check again soon to see the new post with the list of what will be in it. 🙂