The White, Black and Red History of Cross Stitch

I will admit that I don’t know all that much about the history of cross stitch. I know it’s an offshoot of embroidery, which has been around for thousands of years, and that cross stitches were used in conjunction with all sorts of other embroidery stitches long before it became a technique used independently to cover fabric with a design.

The history of cross stitch intersects with other embroidery movements that can include cross stitch, too, like whitework, blackwork and redwork. Lord Libidan gives us the rundown of the history in a post on his site, adapted from an article written for XStitch magazine.

Whitework was worked with white thread on white linen, and sometimes involved cutting away the fabric and leaving the embroidery with no background. That kind of embroidery came to be only allowed for nobles and royalty in England, so a new style was needed for the masses.

Black stitch was a technique Catherine of Aragon brought from Spain to England, and while it wasn’t exclusively worked in cross stitches, it’s a step in the evolution to modern cross stitch that we know of today.

And as red thread became available from Turkey, redwork embroidery (and combinations of red and black in the same project) became really popular, and motifs were sold so that stitchers could create from standardized patterns.

From there, stitching began to be taught to children, and cross stitch, as we know it started to come into being.

It’s an interesting history and I’ve just scratched the surface here, so if you love history or just knowing where the crafts you enjoy came from, Lord Libidan’s post is definitely worth a read.

I also talk a little bit about blackwork and whitework in my post all about how to embroider over on Our Daily Craft if you want to learn a bit more!

[Photo: The Steady Thread]

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

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