Feminist Cross-Stitch by Stephanie Rohr | February 2019 | Lark Crafts | Hardcover $16.95
Make a statement — and smash the patriarchy, one stitch at a time — with these 40 feminist-themed cross-stitching patterns!
Whether you want to proudly announce to the world that you’re a nasty woman or remind others that a woman’s place is in the revolution, you’ll find edgy slogans, sharp one-liners, and cheeky images that make fabulous wall art or wonderful handmade gifts. An illustrated basics section will get you started, with information on materials, tools, techniques, and framing your finished pieces.
Over the past couple of years I’ve been slowly getting back into making things with my hands. Some of the activities that I’ve spent a lot of time on — watching movies, reading or listening to books, doing genealogy research — necessitate sitting still for hours on end (often in front of a screen). I started to miss doing something physical and with a tangible result, so I resolved to spend a little more time on hobbies that scratch that itch.
One of those hobbies is cross-stitch. My mother taught me how to do this when I was a kid; I remember it being a fun, satisfying activity, but I also remember being unimpressed by the selection of kits available at the craft shop. A quick trip to a couple of craft shops in this century proved that my memory was not wrong and that things haven’t changed much in the intervening years. Unless you like cartoon animals or religious verses or Thomas Kinkade-esque landscapes (and many people do, and that’s OK), it seems like there’s not a lot of choice for cross-stitch projects. Well, in meatspace that is. I did eventually discover the wealth of digital patterns available online; I’m not a complete troglodyte, I promise.
Enter Feminist Cross-Stitch and books like it. Irreverent and interest-focused patterns like those included in this book are right up my alley. I’ve found that stitching a pattern with some kind of actual meaning behind it offers an opportunity for a kind of meditation on that subject. If you, like me, enjoy working on handicrafts but quickly lose patience with traditional options, try a book of non-traditional patterns like this one.
This book includes a variety of expertise-rated options, from newbie to advanced. However, the patterns are arranged by topic, which I think is a useful way to help readers find patterns that fit their preferences. For example, if you’re not interested in stitching curse words, you can just skip the “Sassy & Subversive” section; if you’re more interested in stitching images than text, check out the “Feminist Iconography” section.
It also includes a pretty good intro section that outlines the supplies you’ll need and basic techniques for stitching and finishing projects. Cross-stitch really isn’t terribly difficult; if you’re new to it, just practice on one of the newbie patterns before launching into a bigger project. One thing I appreciated about this intro section is the author’s philosophy that you should “stitch the way you want” —
There are many variations on these methods, and you may find a different way to cross-stitch that works better for you. [….] The possibilities are endless, and there really is no “wrong” way to cross-stitch. It should be a fun, relaxing way to express your creativity. You get to decide what that means.
I’d recommend this book to cross-stitchers who’d like something message-focused to work on, particularly to beginners who are uninterested in the typical kits offered by big-box crafting supply stores, as well as crafters who just prefer physical patterns to a digital ones.
If you would like to see a few photos from my adventure through this book and similar things, check out my work-in-progress Arts + Crafts Project Page — COMING SOON
If you want to follow along in my continued arts ‘n’ crafts experiments, please feel free to visit my handicraft Instagram:
Links:
- Etsy shop — stephXstitch
- “Language, Please! Salty Feminist Stitch Book Is Too Much for Michaels” article at The New York Times
- Interview with author at HGTV
Publication information: Rohr, Stephanie. Feminist cross-stitch: 40 bold and fierce patterns. New York, NY: Lark, 2019. Hardcover.
Source: Personal library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.
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