Blood on the Materials List?

When I was learning to sew in the late 90s there was an old saying I heard about hand stitched items: It wasn't complete until it had a little blood. I was in my mid-teens, so I took it quite literally. Working on cross stitch I would always smile when I accidentally poked myself, drawing blood. I remember thinking to myself, at least now it's complete when I'm finished.

Being a hand crafter on Etsy, I do a lot of hand stitching. Almost all of my bows have at least some one on one time with a needle and thread, and I've always been extra careful. When I do draw blood, I'm careful to not get any on the item I'm working on at the time. Instead, it's usually wiped on my jeans. Those that pass through with my hands unscathed always makes me happy: one less opportunity for my thumb and index finger to become a pin cushion.

You see, I've never liked thimbles. I can see the logic in them, and the value, but they're just plain uncomfortable for someone who uses their fingers to feel where the needle needs to go. Those few times I used a thimble on my index finger, I would instead use my middle finger to feel. Being less dextrose than my index finger, it always managed to get injured more. So I put the thimble on my middle finger to protect it, and discovered myself once again using my index finger to feel. I even tried it on my thumb, but found that I couldn't pull the needle through the material with my thumb so covered.

I haven't used a thimble since, but I have discovered that a band-aid makes a great substitute. ~ouch~

Recently I've been working on a new dress for my daughter the past few months, here a little and there a little. I took my time, knowing it would be too big for a little while. It was with this dress I discovered the absolute pain that comes from drawing blood with the dull end of a needle. That's also when the dress became "complete" according to this age-old mantra.

Or was it?












Does it really mean your bodily fluids have to smear onto the item somewhere? That you have to injure yourself before an item can be "complete" rather than just "done"?

I think I've had it wrong all these years. Maybe it was my morbid teenage head, or maybe it was just stupidity.

Or maybe it was not fully understanding "Hand-Stitched"

{Hand-Stitched} has become more than just a needle driven by something other than a sewing machine. {Hand-Stitched} means that, blood or not, a part of you get puts into that item. A part of your soul, and your very being gets stitched alongside that thread pulled by that sharp needle.

If you are one of those lucky enough to have a 

{Hand-Stitched} 

item, and not an item hand made to 

fill a daily quota for pennies a day,

Treasure it.

Keep it close.

And know that someone,

somewhere, 

took great care to make that item 

just how it is.