By Kaitlin Hurley
Correspondent
CUB Alt hosted an exclusive virtual embroidery event on March 25 from 8 to 9 p.m. The event gave students a chance to destress in the midst of midterms.
Wandally Vargas and Devon Cavallone, the students who run CUB Alt, welcomed everyone into the Zoom room and explained the basics of embroidery. Once everyone had their fabric fitted in their embroidery hoop and their needles threaded, the students sat back and chatted while listening to indie music.
The Zoom chat quickly turned into a song-request list, as students typed out songs they wanted to add to the queue. The fan favorite of the night was “Serotonin” by girl in red. After a few minutes of listening to music and stitching, Cavallone, a junior marketing major said, “I feel like we have good vibes here. Thank you, everyone.”
From first timers to avid stitchers, there was a variety of experienced embroiderers in the Zoom room.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to try but never got the chance to,” said Brittany Amberger, a senior communications major, who attended the event.
All the attendees helped each other troubleshoot when someone had a knot in their thread or trouble with tightening the hoop.
“I was a little confused at first because I’ve never done it before but when I started to get into it, it was really fun,”Amberger said.
After announcing the event on their Instagram last month, CUB Alt posted a signup sheet with limited spots, which filled up in only a few minutes. For the students who were able to snag a spot, they didn’t have to worry about gathering embroidery materials — CUB Alt shipped kits with everything they would need right to their door. The kits were from an online shop named Chloe Art Crafts.
The event came at a much-needed time, as students are currently dealing with the stress of both midterms and the ongoing pandemic. It gave the event-goers an hour to connect with other students, relax and get creative.
Emily Katz, a senior psychology major who attended the event said, “I’ve been trying to do a lot of self care through the pandemic,” and explained that she has recently started drawing on Procreate, a popular digital drawing app, where she designs her own stickers. Katz said, “It’s definitely been relaxing and helpful for my own mental health.”
Amid the pandemic, many people have turned to arts and craft making to relieve stress. As of now, #QuarentineCrafts has a whopping 90.7 million views on TikTok, where people post videos to share their latest projects. As you scroll, the hashtag seems to have an endless stream of colorful videos.
From embroidering designs on sweatshirts to making macrame plant hangers, you can find a wide variety of crafts under this hashtag. Even a year into the pandemic, the hashtag is still very active with crafty posts.
Katz is planning on continuing embroidery and is hoping CUB Alt hosts another virtual embroidery get-together.
“I feel like without setting up another event I wouldn’t be as motivated to finish my design and I would love to go again,” Katz said.
