2020 will be remembered for many things, and although most memories of this year won’t be quite so positive (we’re talking about you, Coronavirus), one plus that has come out of the past year, is a slower pace of life.

Unlike years past which have seen us pile up our social calendar, book a far flung trip at every bank holiday, and overload ourselves on work commitments (inevitably always running late) 2020 has given us a chance to catch our breath a bit. And with our free time, particularly during national lockdowns, we’ve found ourselves gravitating back towards a previously almost outdated notion – having a hobby.

Pre-2020, if I had been asked what my hobbies were, they would’ve been limited to online shopping, Netflix binge sessions and mindless Instagram scrolling. Whilst a portion of my free time is still taken up by these ‘hobbies’, I’ve also rediscovered a love of baking, built a few more puzzles than I’d care to admit and I've finally gotten around to actually doing yoga. And I’m not the only one with a new found love for hobbies and crafts – from playing chess, to learning to sew and crafting candles and lip balm, we all seem to have picked up one, if not more hobbies throughout the year.

And there seems to be a new hobby on the rise – embroidery.
With data revealing there has been a 737% increase in searches on Etsy for plant embroidery kits in the last six complete months (compared to the same time the previous year), it's clear we are wholeheartedly taking to crafting in all its guises, in the new normal we all find ourselves in. This centuries-old craft of decorating fabric with thread to create a pattern or image seems to have found itself a new, younger audience. Don't believe us? A quick search on Instagram, brings up over 16 million Instagram posts with #embroidery, so it doesn’t seem like it’ll be going anywhere soon.

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