Campus Entertainment Network (CEN) had students in stitches during its event “Evening of Embroidery.” The event occurred from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18. Students could hang out and listen to music under a tent on the Quad as they embroidered, or they could pick up kits to bring back to their dorms and follow the Zoom tutorial online.

CEN provided students with a white t-shirt, ranging from small to large in size, as well as an embroidery kit. There were also two types of design kits that students could choose from: a succulent design or a flower design. They both seemed to differ in difficulty, with the succulent design requiring more colors and stitching techniques.

In each kit, there were pre-printed embroidery cloths, three embroidery needles, different colored threads, an embroidery hoop and instructions. Each instruction sheet gave tips that could be used, such as how the pre-printed cloth can be washed away once the embroidery was finished.

In addition, there was a picture guide used as a reference for colors, although there might have been a slight color difference between the photo and the thread. Each part of the picture was also labeled with what kind of stitch you should use to create it. There were different types of stitches and a stitch graphic that could be found on the instruction sheet. The stitches varied between the two designs, but they both included stitches such as the straight stitch, back stitch and lazy daisy stitch.

The design of the kit did not necessarily need to be followed. The embroidery could be done freehand or students could make something else entirely different.

The “Evening of Embroidery” was a nice, laid-back way to spend a Friday night. It was also something new and different for students to try out, especially for those who were starting to run out of ideas on how to spend their weekends.