Cross stitch is a very popular and easy form of counted embroidery dating back to at least ancient Egypt. Before the days of machine embroidery and sewing, all cloth embellishments had to be done by hand. This made embroidery a solid career choice for many women, as well as the disabled and even some men. Girls were often taught to stitch via cross stitch samplers during their schooling. These samplers gave girls an opportunity to learn to study the alphabet and read. Cross stitch was also a craft of leisure, a way to express one's creativity and an early form of therapy.

Cross stitch is incredibly fast and easy to learn. If you are a total beginner, I recommend purchasing a beginner’s cross stitch kit. You can find these for a reasonable price at almost all craft stores and occasionally in the children’s craft section of large bookstores and department stores. For more information, I recommend Stitched Modern’s guide to cross stitch.

I discovered cross stitch in 2020 during the lockdowns. I found a small cross stitch kit of a bear in my mum’s craft collection and asked if I could give it a go. I was immediately hooked! Not only do I love how the craft looks, I find the act of stitching itself very relaxing. It’s so calming it’s almost addicting. I love stitching while watching YouTube, anime or listening to my CDs. It’s good both on a rainy evening and a sunny morning! I’ve used cross stitch as a way to limit the amount of screentime I have, especially before bed. When I have a project on the go my time spent scrolling social media drops significantly!

My favourite themes in cross stitch are nostalgic country style illustrations with roses and soft toys and kawaii style chibis. I'm fond of works with and without backstitching. I also really like fanart cross stitch and really want to make some BL themed ones at some point. I also love stitching for my friends. I am a firm believer that asking a crafter to show the back of their work is like asking a woman her weight.

Something I recall from my early days online is how popular cross stitch used to be in fandom in the late 00s - early 10s. This makes a lot of sense as 1, pixel art was very popular and 2, most people online in fandom were women or at the very least men on the more delicate end of the spectrum. I remember browsing Tumblr and DeviantART and finding beautiful cross stitches of Superwholock, Sailor Moon and various bishounen bait anime! Cross stitch still has a small space in fandom, but (as will many types of hand made fan merch) it has fallen out of favour with how easy it is to obtain official (or even bootleg) merch. Still it is something I would love to see make a comeback!

If you’d like to learn a little about the history of cross stitch and other types of embroidery, I highly recommend the works of Dr Isabella Rosner. On her instagram and Tiktok pages and through her print works you can learn about embroidery’s place in providing us a glimpse into the everyday lives of women of the past. I also recommend New Zealand’s Historic Samplers by Vivien Caughley for a local perspective.