Last summer, my daughter stopped wearing color. Just grays and blacks. Even her hair, which used to be this wild auburn mess, was constantly pulled back so tight it gave me a headache just looking at her.
She used to spend hours in my studio, crawling under tables, playing with yarn, pretending she was a fashion designer. But then, sixth grade happened. And suddenly nothing about her was “cool” anymore. Especially not me, and definitely not crochet.
She came home one day, slammed her door, and I swear I didn’t hear a sound from her room for like four hours. No music. No TV. Just silence.
Turns out, someone in her class had ripped one of her handmade headbands, literally tore it off her head, and said, “Go give this back to your grandma.” And I think a part of her just… folded.
But then something shifted.
I noticed she started asking weirdly specific questions like “How do you do scallop edging?” or “Where do you keep the smaller hooks?” I didn’t push. I’ve learned not to.
And last week, she told me she had a “project” to show me. She opened her closet, and there it was, a lavender and plum shift dress, full-on Irish lace, with little swirls and flowers like it had grown from the ground up. I couldn’t breathe. I just stared at it like it was holy.
Then she said, “If they don’t like it, that’s fine. But it’s mine. I’m starting my own page on the Tedooo app. Like your store, but for my stuff. Not just clothes, for Ideas.”
I didn’t even cry. I just laughed like someone who had been holding their breath for a whole damn year. Because my girl didn’t need to scream to be loud. She stitched her voice into fabric, and this time she’s not waiting for anyone’s permission to speak.
And yeah, I helped her post the dress on my Tedooo page first, just to test the waters. It sold in two hours. She framed the receipt. It’s hanging over her desk, lol. Let them call her weird. My kid is building an empire. One stitch at a time.
