In 2015, I set out on an adventure to teach myself and others a new embroidery stitch every week. I called it the #YearOfStitch. If you love embroidery and are looking for a growth opportunity, I highly recommend this exercise.

Obviously, I had to kick it off with my gateway stitch, Cross-Stitch. Below, is the first cross-stitch I ever made. It was in 5th grade. Mrs. Puleo taught me at St. Jerome School in Weymouth, MA.

I stitched this pink bunny and thought - well I’ll never do that again - who needs a pink bunny? Also, bunnies aren’t pink. Fast forward a million years and I stumble across a Star Trek pattern on Etsy. I think - that’s funny. Did I hate cross-stitch or did I hate the pink bunny? So I stitched myself a Captain Picard and it turns out - I just hated the pink bunny! I love the medium. I started stitching every day to create some digital/analog balance in my life.

This is why when you take a workshop with me, it is VERY rare that I will provide a pattern or content suggestion. I never want the content to distract folks from the medium. I want you to use your voice, identities, and interests, to determine what you want to stitch into this world.

Ok, enough storytelling. It’s time to get stitching!!!

Cross-Stitch is one kind of embroidery stitch. You create images using tiny X’s. Think of it as analog pixel mapping - like the MineCraft of embroidery. Some folks work exclusively in cross-stitch and never branch out into the broader world of embroidery. These people usually like rules, structure, and counting. ;)

Cross-stitch is generally done on even-weave fabrics, the most common known as AIDA fabric. It is highly structured and quite stiff. It allows for perfect X’s. You are certainly not limited to AIDA fabric as a cross-stitcher but it’s the go-to.

Cross-stitchers tend to work from patterns. My favorite pattern makers are: StephXStitch and Subversive Cross Stitch. I’ve also got some free patterns on my…wait for it…Patterns page.

Cross-stitch has a rich history that is both lovely and full of patriarchal bullshit (honestly how many times can the Milwaukee Public Museum use the world “genteel”) so I always find it extra subversive when folks reclaim cross-stitch for feminist and political messaging.

Cross-stitch is slowwwwww which is why I don’t do a ton of cross-stitch anymore. Pro-tip: if you are unsure if something is cross-stitch or embroidery, say embroidery and you will be right every time.

All of the tutorials that you will see in the coming weeks are demonstrated on AIDA fabric because it lends itself to perfect stitches but I mostly work on quilters cotton and you can work on any fabric you like.

There are NO RULES here, only suggestions.

This cross-stitch tutorial is simply to demonstrate how you can use a cross-stitch in your work. This is not a comprehensive tutorial on “how to cross-stitch” but if you would like to learn how to read patterns, and create an entire cross-stitch piece you can take my Cross-Stitch 101 workshop. <3