This post was originally in XStitch Magazine Issue 27: Flora, and has been adapted.
There I stood, clutching three random threads I had no need for; but they simply looked so pretty that as a result I NEEDED to have them. I still have two of those threads, never used now sitting in my collection, gaining an almost mythical status.
It was just after I had just finished my first ever cross stitch and I was eagerly looking over the kits at the local haberdashery, willing to increase my stitch count from less than 100 to almost 20,000 in a single leap. But, all I had in front of me was a rather paltry collection; I could choose a Wallace and Gromit piece, a fairy on a toadstool piece (complete with metallic threads I remember) or a floral design.
I didn’t know it at the time, but numerous decades ago (side note; don’t do the math, it makes you feel crazy old!) this was all the selection you could get.
Sites like Etsy had failed to bring in the cross stitch crowd, niche cross stitch was still very much underground, and magazines and books simply fulfilled the status quo of patterns in fear for reaching too far out of their lanes and loosing precious income.
Cross stitch has thankfully moved on a long way since those days, and now if you enter a haberdashery, you will still find those three types of patterns, but a load of others as well. From geometric patterns to snarky comments and frankly SUPER niche topics.
But one of the most interesting things to me over those decades is the history of cross stitch.
How exactly did we end up with those three staples of the cross stitch world?
The Wallace and Gromit piece is the most interesting to explain. For those not in the know, Wallace and Gromit is a comedic British stop motion film; but your local shop was likely to carry something similar. In the 80s, when consumerism really started to explode, brands reached out, licensing their characters to everything that could possibly contain something relating to their IP.
This came to cross stitch when the “big boy” Disney signed a deal with a company called Designer Stitches UK Limited. The relationship blossomed and a new world of cross stitch patterns were created for the market as Disney went all in. The brand partnered with DMC to create a custom color, DMC 724, for their Winne the Pooh kits. Now this thread is unheard of, as it marked the only time DMC created a custom color for anyone.
By the late 90s and early 2000s, these patterns had fallen in sales. Disney pulled out of the cross stitch world until the 2010s, when I was lucky enough to work on the first official Disney cross stitch book in over 18 years.
But, with smaller niche brands offering their IPs with cheaper licencing deals, the likes of Wallace and Gromit patterns were out there during this void to weather the storm.
Fairies are a long staple in the cross stitch world and are the easiest to explain however.
In the 1890s cross stitch became a cornerstone activity for people in mourning across the United States of America, and with it the fervour over supernatural things started. This culminated in a combination of cross stitch samplers containing small motifs around ghosts, spirits and, of course, fairies.
As time moved on, cross stitch samplers regularly contained motifs designed in decades before, and fairies, far easier to stitch than a ghost or spirit, became a staple that cross stitch is yet to shrug off.
Finally comes flowers. Flower patterns are without a doubt, the hardest to explain.
Let’s roll the clock back over 100 years, or even 200, 300 years! Florals and cross stitch go hand in hand.
From traditional Syrian and Palestinian cross stitch designs, to Nordic cross stitch designs, to Ukrainian and Belarusian cross stitch designs, and also European cross stitch designs, they all feature florals at their core. As designs moved on to sampler styles, they took these with them, but why were florals such an important part of cross stitch to begin with?
Cross stitch in a short term history has mainly been a female pursuit, going back hundreds of years though, it was firmly male professional work. At first this seems to confuse the situation; but there’s one other piece of the puzzle. Cross stitch in history has regularly been used in winter, and transition seasons. Flowers, failing to bloom in the darker months were replaced with ornate decorations featuring summer blooms of brilliant colors. Similar to our Christmas traditions now, these patterns stemmed from pagan festivals, bringing the joy of warmer months into our homes.
The concept of why these flowers were included in designs was lost as they were popularised in Europe, before gaining more popularity by female stitchers in the Victorian period. These then became staples of cross stitch and are still a major part today, possibly spurred on by tattoo designs which incorporated floral designs in the Victorian period by Navy men.
So somehow, when I went looking for cross stitch kits in my local haberdashery, I was presented with three options; failing consumerism, death and spiritualism, and pagan festivals. It’s funny how designs slowly lose their meanings over time. But it’s clear that all three of these design elements are here to stay. I’m just glad things have moved on and there are other designs now too!
As a final note, for anyone wondering, I picked the Wallace and Gromit kit. I managed to miscount (I didn’t know about gridding cross stitch at the time) and Gromit’s left leg ended up being 5 rows too short!
Happy stitching!
Lord Libidan