Craft Corner

At some point in our life, we girls learn the craft of cross-stitching. Or were forced to learn it because it was part of Home Economics. Cross stitching is not at all difficult. It requires some basic skill with a needle and a thread. But one thing that makes it hard is the need for patience. Yards and yards of patience. This counted-thread embroidery can take days up to several weeks to finish depending on the pattern you're doing. 

Arm yourself with DMC threads when cross-stitching

Two of the most patient women in my life are into cross-stitching: my grandmother and my mother. My grandmother used to cross stitch huge patterns that I couldn't even fathom why she's doing. Her works range from ballerinas to country houses to ladies wearing elaborate Victorian clothes to fruits and vegetables; a testament of her unwavering commitment to this needle craft is an ancestral house filled with frames of projects she patiently cross-stitched. My mother followed her footprints, or should I say, hand skill, stitching relatives' faces from patterns made with their photos (needs a hundreds of threads in various colors) to sceneries and landscapes. She's still into cross-stitch up to now. I had my moment when I was still in high school but didn't have the patience for it, obviously. Haha. 

Threads of various kinds, colors, and sizes.

A craft store in the corner of the Shola Shopping Center, bereft of a proper signage, is my mother's haven for cross-stitching in Riyadh. I didn't know how my father found this but this is where he took her when she needed more DMC thread for the pattern she was doing. She bought the patterns in the Philippines and brought them here in Saudi Arabia but the materials she uses comes from this gem of a store, named Adel according to the receipt, that carries not only cross-stitching paraphernalia but also aida cloth (used for cross-stitching), ribbons, fabrics, yarns, tulle, buttons, and brooches. I tended to stray away from the store while waiting for the friendly store keeper to finish finding all the threads my mother require. But the other week, I decided to roam around the small store and see what's available... just in case there are still a few of you who are into crafts that needed these materials. 

Thousands of colors to choose from! This is DMC's Color Variation threads.

More threads for needlework

Yarns, threads, fabrics

For crochets and other projects

Fancy a new hobby?

Adel Craft Store carries a lot of stuff that I didn't think important. But then again, I'm no longer in school and I'm not doing any artistic crafts now. Maybe so do you. But your kids might have projects in school that requires these so you now know where to find them. The store is located at the leftmost entrance at the back, near the Men's Mall next door. It's parallel to Dajen (if Dajen is in front, Adel is at the back of Shola).

Ribbons of various patterns: floral, stripes, plaid, rainbows...

Drawn to these ribbons. I'll buy meters of them if I only known where to use them. Hehe.

I miss doing something creative.

Buttons and blings

Flowers for headbands, brooches, etc.

Lots of choices... sigh!

Adel Craft Store makes me want to take up a particular craft again. Maybe cross-stitching or crocheting? Or just create an art project that involves buttons and ribbons. I've always thought that cross-stitching is boring but now, I come to appreciate these old forms of crafts because they teach us values which children nowadays don't get to learn from playing with electronic gadgets. Try teaching your kids more hobbies and crafts that involve using their hands; exploring their creativity and resourcefulness. Introduce them to crafts that will harness their skills, patience, and imagination.  ~ Sundrenched

Adel Craft Store
Shola Shopping Center
King Abdul Aziz Road, Riyadh

UPDATE: ADEL'S IS NOW CLOSED. A store in Shola Shopping Center burned down and they decided to close the whole of Shola Shopping Center. We don't know if Adel's transferred elsewhere but fir an alternative craft store, visit DMC Store (http://www.thepinktarha.com/2013/05/a-creative-world-inside-dmc-riyadh.html)