“Do as I say, not as I do.”

When I was a professional teacher, I held this maxim to be one of the Worst Possible Ways to instruct anyone, especially children.

Children especially learn from example; they absorb what they see other people do (especially people they look up to), and they learn by what we do more than by what we say.

So I’ve always held “do as I say, not as I do” as a pretty shoddy way to instruct.

However…

(Don’t you just love “buts”?)

We’re all adults here, right? (Except for maybe Sarah, but I’m sure she’ll understand!)

When working with an embroidery kit designed by someone else, do as I say:

Read through the instructions carefully first. And I really do mean read through All The Instructions carefully first. If you want to make changes to the instructions or the design or the layout or the colors or the method, go for it! But read what the designer originally intended, first. Then make your decisions.

Don’t do as I did. To illustrate: