We all have new skills or passions we want to try and explore however we often fall victim to time believing that either we don’t have the time to learn or that a better time will come. There is a misconception that it’ll take one 10 000 hours to learn a new skill; however that's to get to the expert level. All that's really needed is 20 hours.
This project puts this to the test. I have been tasked with learning a new skill of my choice in 20 hours. The aim is not to become a master but rather about overcoming the fear of starting and learning something I’m passionate about. I had to document my process and create an infographic poster using this information.
I chose to learn the art of embroidery. Embroidery is something I've always wanted to learn but believed never had the time to - so this was the perfect opportunity to immerse myself in this beautiful art form.
My approach to learning embroidery was to first learn the basic stitches used in most patterns and then move onto doing patterns and illustrations that would get more complex as time went on. I felt many emotions during this process but I'm happy to say that most of the time I was proud of what I was achieving. I was picking up the skill a lot easier than I thought I would and I was looking forward to my embroidery sessions.
Throughout the journey I took photos of what I was doing and documented my thoughts and emotions as well as what I had learnt and what had frustrated me.
Hours 1 - 5
Hours 6 - 9
By the end of the 20 hours I had successfully learnt the basic embroidery stitches as well as completed two designs that were on two different difficulty levels. I'm really proud of what I was able to achieve and I'm excited to continue my embroidery journey outside of this challenge.
Final Designs (Hours 11 - 20)
As mentioned previously, throughout the 20 hours I documented what I learnt and did, my emotions, frustrations, and tips that I picked up. I used this information to create an infographic that serves to introduce the reader to embroidery.
Final Infographic Poster
The infographic is a how-to that aims to inspire the reader to start learning embroidery. It also serves as a starting point for a beginner; offering an explanation of the materials needed, a design with explanations of the stitches that include a difficulty rating and a space for practice, as well as the benefits of learning embroidery and the frustrations a beginner can expect to experience as additional information.
The infographic is printed on fabric. This allows for the reader physically engage with it and practice on the infographic itself; following in the practice sections and then in the illustration design in the centre.
Target Audience
My target audience is young people who aren’t well-versed in needlework and would like to give something like embroidery a try. They would learn the basics which would hopefully be enough for them to become invested in the skill and make it a hobby.
Colour Palette
Icons
The Focal Illustration
This illustration design is the same one I used in my final embroidery piece in the 20 hours challenge. It is a good design for beginners to challenge themselves with.
This design is not mine nor do I claim it to be. The original design can be found here.
