Threading the Needle

Much like the saying goes of “threading the needle,” each day we skillfully navigate through difficult moments, and decisions in our lives. Whether our jobs are pushing us to the limit, or our families require more of our attention, there’s always a tug of war between showing up for ourselves and for others. This is why we want to hear about how you disconnect from the world and give yourself a well-deserved mindful making break.

For this Challenge, we’ve partnered with DMC, which strongly believes in the power of mindful making practices such as embroidery, knitting, and craft. So, tell us about a creative project or activity you love doing that offers you inner peace! Whether that's listening to music while you stitch custom embroidery, or meditating in the sun to make room for your inner peace — we want to learn about all the things that keep you grounded and ease the stress of your routine. We’re excited to hear about what keeps you inspired! To learn more about how to become a DMC Affiliate, check out more information here.

Judges

Ian Kelly is a multi-award-winning biographer, screenwriter, and playwright. His works, including best-selling biographies of fashion icons Beau Brummell and Vivienne Westwood (co-authored with Dame Vivienne), have been translated into over twenty languages and his adaptations of his historical works include West End stage, tv, film, and also ballet (Casanova). He is currently co-authoring the tv series The Rothshilds with Julian Fellowes.

Josie Devine is a self-taught Scottish artist whose work uses bold color and lines to poetically illustrate the female form. Beyond the brush strokes, Josie has brought her lovely ladies to life as exclusive DMC embroidery patterns for your stitching pleasure. Most recently, you can find her work as the highlight of Kitri’s June collection. Her work is so striking, it has been featured in publications such as Elle magazine. Join Josie, and her gals, on an excitingly colorful journey.

For your story to be eligible, it should be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until July 30, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Threading the Needle Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.