IF you love to stitch and enjoy a chat, you'll be glad to know that Ballymena now has its very own stitching club.
Ballymena Stitching Group was formed last year by local teaching assistant Dominique Vanden Broeck.
Dominique, who is from France, has a passion for cross stitching and immediately began to look for a local group when she arrived to work in Ballym
ena.
When she discovered that no such group existed, she decided to start her own!
Dominique put up posters in local shops and businesses - and soon word began to spread. The group had its first meeting last September and now have a membership of around 12 people.
They meet every Wednesday night from 7pm to 9pm for stitching, a bit of craic and a cup of tea.
Dominique said: “I really love cross stitch and am always keen to improve my skills, as well as meet new people. The group is the perfect way to do that.
“I would encourage anyone who likes to stitch to come along. It doesn’t matter how good or how bad your stitching is - just come along. We’d all be delighted to see new people joining the group.”
There is no age restriction, members are aged from 12 to 60-plus. And knitters are not discriminated against either!
“One of our members prefers knitting to stitching and that’s okay with us. We do not mind!”
The club has already had success. One member won first and third prize for her cross stitch projects in the Home Industries Section at the Ballymena Show this year.
The club is regularly advertised in the monthly Cross Stitch Crazy magazine and were even featured in a recent edition.
If you want to find out more about the stitching club, contact Dominique on 028 2565 4635 or simply call in any Wednesday night to St John Ambulance Hall, Corlea Gardens, Ballymena.
