Over the last 10 years of cross stitch blogging I’ve seen a lot happen to the craft, and for the last few years I’ve created posts based on what I think is going to happen in 2017 and (with a little help from my cross stitchy friends) 2018. I’m normally pretty correct, so without further ado, let’s look at what might happen in 2019.
 

Cross Stitch Magazines

This one was actually on last year’s plan, however, with the loss of Cross Stitch Collection in 2017, the cross stitch magazine market has had a bit of a hard time. Originally I had foreseen magazines becoming more persona focused, and with magazines such as The XStitch Mag coming out for a more modern market, I think we’ve seen that. But it also means something else.
Advertising. You see, the magazines are really feeling the pinch right now with advertisers losing trust in magazines. As a result even in the biggest of mags we see more local and Etsy style shops advertising instead of the big companies. I think we might see another big cross stitch magazine go bust this year.
 

The Rise Of The Small Store Owner

One of the main impacts of big stores no longer advertising is that they start getting undercut by smaller stores that can stock the same things, but offer better service. I hear more and more that smaller stores are being selected over larger retailers, and I think 2019 will see a big change in the way people buy cross stitch supplies.
 

Software

This is another one I focused on last year, and I’m glad to say my prediction was spot on. We saw quite a few cross stitch generator programs go bust and in their place lots of ‘point and click’ online creators. This has two big effects; the first is that those point and clicks are going paid, and the costs are really high for what they offer ($10 a pattern anyone?) and so I foresee a big increase in people investing in downloaded software. In fact, we’ve even seen an increase in clicks on our review of the best cross stitch software.
This will also start the big players (WinStitch and PCStitch) looking to develop simpler, user friendly options at a cut down price.
 

Books

This is the first thing that happened in 2018 that I simply didn’t see coming. Books came out. Loads. And unlike previous years, this year has been chocked full of fantastic books, such as Criss Crossing Paris (you can check out some of the others on our review of the best cross stitch books).
However, a year of big cross stitch book releases normally means the next year will have none. In fact, I’m expecting kits to be light on the shelves this year too, as more and more people turn to pattern only online purchases.
 

ThreadHeaven

The next big shock of this year was the loss of ThreadHeaven. A staple in the cross stitch world for decades, it was a big shame to see its loss. Whilst there are some great ThreadHeaven alternatives out there, we forsee a new player coming to the market to try and take ThreadHeaven’s crown.
 

Technology

My final forsight for 2019 is tech in cross stitch. This is more a general one. We’ve seen a lot of technology amd lights in cross stitch this year, but I forsee more and more kits coming out with integrated electronics.
I’m also foreseeing more and more robotic cross stitch as the sewing machine market develops further. Expect to see cross stitching on mass-produced cheap goods this year.
 
 
And that’s what we’re expecting to see in 2019. Is there something you’re looking for?