Give me a hot glue gun and things get sticky. And stained.
Yep, when you dribble glue onto fabric and leave it there when it goes through
the washer and dryer, a stain will remain. Well, maybe you don’t dribble glue,
but I certainly do. Me and glue, we have a touchy relationship. I need it for
craft projects but oh, how I hate it. Because it insists on spreading itself
around where it doesn’t belong.
Aaaanyway, that’s how my favorite v-neck pink top was
ruined. I hung onto it though because I just knew that I could come up with
some way to use it. Years ago some fabric paint and a stencil came to my rescue
on another t-shirt I liked. Wasn’t in the mood for fabric paint this time, even
if I hadn’t thrown it away when it got all cloggy.
Tossed around the idea of appliqué and just as quickly
tossed it out. This shirt is sort of stretchy t-shirt fabric and I couldn’t
figure out how to put a non-stretchy appliqué on it and not end up with puckers
or something.
A couple of years passed.
Then sorting through a drawer I found embroidery floss. Used
some to spice up a jean pillow I was making. Held the thread up to my pink
shirt. Hmmmm.
And I began to stitch. One petal at a time.
Backed up each flower with a tiny piece of old cotton sheet
on the underside of the shirt to give stability.
It took a long time because my finger joints don’t get along
well with fine hand sewing anymore.
As I stitched I thought about what God does with the staining
experiences of my life. Stains incurred by me willfully decoupaging myself with
the glue of pride and its counterpart shame, as well as stains in the form of
lies sticking to me, telling me about who I am.
The little daisies taking shape under my fingers spoke to me
of God’s mercy transforming those stains into beauty—His beauty.
I added a few petals here and there where there were no
stains. God’s grace decorates my life with friends who care and provide.
Embroidery is a quiet, peaceful art. Christ sews in His
perfect peace and underneath it all, His Word gives me stability.
So delighted to be able to wear my favorite pink shirt
again. Even more so now that it reminds me of spiritual truth.
And look! I didn’t spill any sticky stuff in this creative blog
project!
