Fun Cross Stitch Book by Makoto Oozu Reviewed

fun cross stitch book cover by makoto oozu

19/09/201708/09/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

The Japanese cross stitch master, Makoto Oozu has produced a series of books in the past, such as “Makato’s Cross-Stitch Super Collection” which is found on the shelves of most cross stitchers worldwide. That’s why, when he released a new book in Japan, I had to get myself a copy!

This super compendium of miniature cross stitch patterns is 200 pages thick, with new content from 2017 such as an A4 world map, and country specific stitches, as well as the reprints of three of Makoto’s previous books; the Japanese only out of print “My Stitch Book”, “Makato’s Cross-Stitch Super Collection” and “Mega Mini Cross Stitch: 900 Super Awesome Cross Stitch Motifs“.
Makoto decided to put together this new book as he’d been requested by hundreds of people for copies of his out of print books. This means that the book contains over 2000 patterns! Many of which you would have seen before in his previous books, but he’s put together 100 new patterns and there are 300 from his Japanese only book too, meaning this is still a fantastic book to pick up.

For Makoto, one of the biggest issues with his previous books was the lack of color, and frankly I agree. For a beginner in particular, patterns need to be easy to read, and the dizzying array of icons on a black and white pattern are super confusing. In this new book, not only is every pattern printed in full color glory, but the patterns are too, meaning an easy to follow pattern for beginners.
However, the book is mostly in Japanese, meaning reading the instructions for beginners might be a bit complicated. However there are pictures, and in a book of 200 pages there are a total of 9 in Japanese, so it really isn’t a problem for most people, and is still a great collection of patterns.

If you fancy picking up the book, you can currently get a copy on the Japanese Amazon for about $20 (as of September 2017). I’m afraid to say we’ve got confirmation from Makoto that it won’t be published outside of Japan, so this is currently the only way you can pick one up.
In fact, we spoke to Makoto about a few things, such as the Japanese cross stitch trends, you should check out my interview with Makoto Oozu.

And finally, I leave you with a quote from the author himself about his new book:

If you compare it to rice, it’s like a book with raw egg, red ginger and miso soup in a special rice bowl.

Makoto Oozu

DMCs 35 New Threads

17/09/201705/02/2018 ~ LordLibidan ~ 10 Comments

For the first time in 14 years, DMC threads are launching new colors. We were able to get a preview set, and so we’re decided to help out and go into detail with the 35 new colors.
Firstly, the new colors range from code 01 to 35, and no colors are being replaced; these are all additional only. This brings the total range up to 500. They’re out in late October/early November (dependent on where you live).
Based of the new colors is clear that DMC have really listened to what customers wanted. Without further ado, lets look at each of the new colors.

01 to 04 – Greys

The first set is numbers 01 to 04, all grey. The current grey selection is a bit lack luster, with very popular colors such as 415, 318 and 414 being slightly purple hued. The new set effectively replaces these colors by removing the purple, making a fantastic run of 762, 01, 02, 03, 04, 317, 413, 3799, 310. We’ve made up this color swatch up below. Honestly, of all the new threads, we think these four will be the most popular by far, and will stop that weird purple hue on grey scale projects like our Canabalt piece.

05 to 09 – Browns

The second set, 05 to 09, are all brown. At first glance they’ve very similar to the 453, 452, 451, 3861, 3860, 779 line, however that has historically been muddled and lacking in a progressive shading. Instead, the new line makes a pure brown, something that’s been missing for a while from the traditional line.

10 to 18 – Greens

Initially it seems a little odd to have so many greens in the new threads, especially considering green has always been a strong point of DMC. However, if you think about the greens available, they either transition into blue, or brown. Hardly any move into yellow. This is where the new green threads come in, offering fairly pale greens that transition into yellow. In addition color 13 sits as a lighter 3849 to allow blue to green blending a little easier at pale ends of the spectrum.

19 – Orange

We then have the solitary 19, a peachy orange. This is clearly made to fit within existing 3823, 3855, 19, 3854, 3853 line. I must admit, I’ve never really seen much use of these colours, however unlike most other color ranges featuring at least 5 colors, it shows DMC are devoted to making their existing line perfect. (The images don’t do it justice.)

In addition this orange could be included within the next set of colors; flesh tones.

20 to 22 – Flesh tones

Skin tones have ALWAYS been an issue with threads, and whilst there are some good shades out there, the darker white skin colors have been missing for a while. Colors 20 to 22 solve that issue.

23 to 35 – Purples

Finally, we look upon the final section of new threads, colors 23 to 35. These compromise a series of purples, mostly light hued, without any runs of progressively darker threads. For a long time purple has been a big issue, with only darker purples being an use, as lighter ones were just way too pink. The new threads offer both lighter purples, but also a series of purples that merge into other colors, such as 28 and 29 which blend into a grey line 415, 318 and 414, which now feels a little orphaned with the new greys. 30, 31 and 32 blend into blue. And 33, 34 and 35 blend into red well, something there currently isn’t any of.

A word on compatibility
It’s worth noting that with all new threads, pick up is a little slow going at first. Most pattern makers will updated yearly, meaning the next update using these threads could be some time in mid 2018. We reached out to WinStitch/MacStitch which will send an update in the coming week. No update on when PCStitch will update, we’ll update this when we hear back.
In addition the DMC shade card, despite earlier reports, it being updated with the new threads.

Where and when can you get them?
Officially the new threads go on open sale in November, with a few select retailers getting their hands on them early. One of these is SewAndSo.com where you can buy each thread with 25% off, or get a collectors tin with all of them included, in the middle of October. In Canda you can pick them up from StitchItCentral. We expect this will be the only place you can pick them up this early, with the DMC website, Hobbycraft and Michaels to carry the line once they’re officially out in November. We’ve got confirmation that Walmart will NOT be carrying the line at all.

The Tasty World Of Cross Stitch Cakes

awesome cross stitch cake by ana salinas

12/09/201730/09/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

When you think cross stitch, you don’t normally think cakes. However the relationship has been out there a while. We’ve done the hard, tasty work for you, by finding those cross stitch cakes and cake cross stitch.

Cake: Ana Salinas

Originally showcased at the Americas Cake Fair Ana Salinas took the cross stitch world by storm with her fantastically realistic cross stitch cake.

The thing that really made the world go crazy was the sheer detail. There’s realistic aida, with cross stitch perfectly spaced, and its just so awesome!

Cross Stitch: Sirinth

Cake don’t always have to be fancy to be tasty. Check this sweet Minecraft cake out by Sirinth who even made the pattern avalible for free on her website.

Cake: Zoe Clark

Cross stitch cakes look hard, however once Ana Salinas took the world by storm, people started to emulate her. Most are poor emulations, however Zoe Clark has perfected a very simple method, which she even teaches on her website!

Cross Stitch: TinyLizard

These simplistic cupcakes are super sweet. What makes them even better, is you can pick yourself up a kit from EtsyStudio

The Samurai Who Unknowing Brought Cross Stitch To Japan

05/09/201721/08/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

I was once told a story of how a Samurai brought cross stitch to Japan without knowing it. Like many tales about cross stitch I firmly ignored it, however, as time has gone on, I found out the story was true. So, without further ado, here is the story of the Samurai that brought cross stitch to Japan by accident.

Edo Period (pre-1868)

Our story starts in the Edo period of Japan, a time of economic growth and strict social order. With a wealthy Imperial Court, it was a common practice for Ladies of the Court to have costumes decorated in a traditional Japanese embroidery (nihon shishu). However during these stages shishu was only available to a select group of the highest ranks of society due to high costs for its creation.
The Edo period continued with until its fall, which brought about mass social change.

Keiō Era (1865 – 1868)

One of the largest changes following the fall of Edo was the restructuring of the military. Gone were the days of samurai classes ruling over their territories. Many joined up the new military, whilst others set up businesses. One of these samurai, from Fukui in Echizen decided to bring in sanada string as a clothes accessory.
Taking many artistic cues from nihon shishu, sanada string was a more affordable option for many Japanese.
traditional Sanada string

Meiji Period (1868 – 1912)

Unlike nihon shishu however sanada string lacked artistic flair and left many Japanese wanting a more artistic clothing option. In this wake, the samurai changed his business model and instead focused on sashiko embroidery, a regimented embroidery featuring crossed stitches as part of its design, originally used to reinforce garments and as a means of repair.

Taishō Period (1912 – 1926)

As the popularity of sashiko increased its art form became more free, with regional differences resulting in a varied series of patterns and structures. One of these, was extremely similar to modern day cross stitch, Hitomezashi. However, still out of reach by the average Japanese person, the thread brand DMC entered Japan and offered a high quality, affordable thread.

Modern Japan (1926 – present)

Post war interest in Japan started a revolution of sorts, resulting in ‘handicraft’ or craft as westerns know it, becoming a national pass time, with speciality stores becoming well known all over the country. As time passed, handicraft stores became the largest stores in Japan.

samurai jack cross stitch — Samurai Jack cross stitch by reddit user Mrs_Hudson

My thanks to the Japanese store echizen-ya who not only corroborated this story, but was also the original store the samurai opened in 1867.

The Best Simpsons Cross Stitch

29/08/201714/07/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

With 21 seasons under its belt and still going strong, The Simpsons has a massive following (even if some of them hate the newer episodes), however there isn’t a great deal of cross stitch out there devoted to it.
As I pointed out in my trends of 2017 post pop culture like The Simpsons is on the rise. Here are the best so far…

Springfield: Home Sweet Home

Before we begin, please be advised this post is sponsored by Hank Scorpio (evil genius) and the Globex Corporation.
the simpsons cross stitch home sweet home

The Almighty Donut

Talking of Homer, where’s my donut love?
the simpsons cross stitch do or donut there is no try
You can pick the pattern up of this awesome pattern on Etsy.

Old Man Yells At Cloud

But when it comes to the press, Grandpa Simpson has the record…
the simpsons cross stitch old man yells at cloud

That’s a Paddlin’

Talking out of turn? That’s a paddlin’. Lookin’ out the window? That’s a paddlin’. Staring at my sandals? That’s a paddlin’. Paddlin’ the school canoe? Oh, you better believe that’s a paddlin’.
― Jasper Beardly

the simpsons cross stitch thats a paddlin

Lisa Simpson

the simpsons cross stitch you are lisa simpson
Pretty sure I’m not…

Oh…

The Couch Gag

And finally, what kind of roundup would it be without a couch gag? Attempted a few times, PDX-stitch has got the furthest so far, with a 3 year stitch time…
the simpsons cross stitch couch gag

How To Cross Stitch Faster

22/08/201714/12/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

I regularly get asked how I can cross stitch so fast, and whilst it probably has a lot to do with how many hours I stitch in, there are various ways to speed up your cross stitching. We’ll start off with some different techniques to try, before going into some tips for speeding up your cross stitch.

The Danish Technique

Traditionally there are two ways to cross stitch, the English technique and Danish technique. Generally people use the Danish technique, where you lay down a line of stitches in one direction, and then go back with the other direction. We use this technique in our how to cross stitch guide for a reason; it makes things far faster.
How to cross stitch animated gif
If you want to find out more about the differences between both, peacockandfig has a great guide.

Two Hand Technique

The two handed technique requires you to have a hands free frame. This means that instead of flipping the frame over to find the needle, you simple grab the needle with your otherhand and push it back up through the fabric. This means that you don’t have to put the needle far to straighten the thread, or take your eye off the fabric holes.

Double Sided Needle

One of the best ways to acheive the two hand technique is to change your needle to a twin pointed or double sided variety. Its basically a standard needle that you don’t have to swin around, cutting even more time off.

Double ended cross stitch needle
*Source: reddit*

You can pick some up at 123stitch.

“In Hand” Technique

Sometimes refered to as the ‘sewing’ method, this technique requires you to not use a frame. For smaller projects, this is fine, however just not workable for larger ones. The idea is to pucker the fabric so you place an in and out hole in one go. The below video explains this process very well:

General Tips:

Have the right equipment

Whlist you can change your stitching style, or using fancy needles, there is always a need to have the right equipment, and regularly, without realising it, many people don’t have what they need to stitch fast.

Needle

Should always be the correct size for the fabric
Consider using a petite needle or one size smaller
Should always be a blunt embroidery needle (there are sharp ones)
Use gold plated needles if possible (they slide through better)

Frame

Should always be as taught as possible (unless using the “in the hand” technique)
Should be appropriate the fabric size (no hoops on massive projects)

Scissors

Make sure they’re sharp
Try to find the best cross stitch scissors for you

Fabrics count

There are loads of different fabric types you can use to cross stitch on, and due to their differences, some are easier to stitch on. If you want a fast project, use aida.
In addition, the count can drastically change the speed of stitching. Try using a larger count for faster stitching.

Stick with the same color

Another great tip is stitching with one color as long as possible. Firstly, this means no awkward thread changes, but also means you havelots of nearby references for where to stitch next (so no pesky counting).

Pre-thread needles

One way to help yourself when sticking with a color is to prepare lots of needles. I regularly set up 8 needles with 8 threads ready to go, so I don’t have to keep start stopping to rethread. It saves far more time than you realise and makes use of all those needles you collect.

Use the correct thread length

Many new cross stitchers make the mistake of having a very large piece of thread hanging off the needle. In theory, the larger the thread, the less needle preperation. However, in reality, the larger the thread, the more tangles. Instead, you should have a smaller piece of thread. A good guide is measure from the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your elbow.

Organise, organise, organise

Finally, you have to organise. Whilst it can seem a bit tedious, this actually saves you massive amounts of time. I would suggest taking all of your skeins off and onto thread cards. By doing this your not only making it easier to grab the thread you need, but you’re untwisting the threads, making sure they don’t knot on the skein, and making selection easier. They also look super pretty.

Full set of DMC threads — My full set of DMC threads

So there you have it. Now you have everything in your disposal to cross stitch faster. However, as a final note, I would say that sometimes taking your time can have added benefits, such as curbing stress.

The Best Cross Stitch Forums

15/08/201717/06/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ 1 Comment

Following our super popular post on how to show cross stitch offline we’ve received a few comments about the best forums to display your work on. On the last count there were about 30 forums, and so we’ve reviewed and ordered the list from most active community to least active community, based on a test every day for 28 days.

Cross-Stitching.com

cross-stitching.com forum
Owner of a whole slew of cross stitch magazines its no surprise that cross-stitching.com has a massive following. Whilst the content of the website is a little hit and miss in my mind, the forums are epic. Not only are they massive but at any one time they have about 150-300 people logged in. The sheer size is a big draw, however, unlike a lot of other forums they don’t have any moderators, due to the community being so well behaved and helpful.
I would say that there are two small negatives; the first is that there appear to only have a few true experts, with most posts being about how to cross stitch, and secondly, its very traditional.

reddit /r/crossstitch
In a stark contrast to cross-stitching.com’s forum, reddit’s /r/CrossStitch is far more contemporary (although there is a fair share of traditional in there), and MUCH more international. There are roughly 50 people logged into the forum at any time, and whilst that’s much smaller in size, the particiation is much greater, and often this is where the cross stitch masters hang their hat.
There’s a bit of a learning curve needed though, as each time you post, you have to add a code to the start of your message, but once you’ve picked it up, its actually super easy to navigate.

CrossStitchForum

cross stitch forum
Starting to get on the less busy side now, we have the CrossStitchForum, who’s whole purpose in life is a forum for cross stitchers. Whilst it was extreamly popular back in 2007, its suffered with low figures for a while, and I think we may see the end of it soon. However, in those archives are some of the best cross stitch question and answers you’ve ever seen. Whenever I have a question I look up the answer here first.

Craftster

craftster cross stitch
A much larger forum, is craftster, which in itself is a massive beast, however the cross stitch and needlepoint section seems to have dwindled in the last 5 years. Whilst its a great place to show off your completed projects and WIPs, the community isn’t really there, and there isn’t much participation past the occassional “well done”.

The Cross Stitch Guild

cross stitch gold
The Cross Stitch Guild, unlike all our other entries, has never been a busy forum. However, the one saving grace, is anyone posting is likely been stitching for decades. This means that any questions you have will not only be answered, but be answered by someone who has gone through the exact same things thousands of times before. Not too busy, but worth its weight in gold; pun intented.

If you know of any good forums, even if they’re specific to certain parts of cross stitch, then drop me a line and I’ll review them!

The Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch Book Review

08/08/201705/02/2018 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

mr x stitch guide to cross stitch Cover
It’s rare that I review a cross stitch book, and I know many of you want them, but there is rarely a reason. Most books are either mass patterns, which you will love or hate based on personal taste, or a historical tome, which either appeals or doesn’t. But this book review is different. Other than being written by my good pal Mr X Stitch (Jamie), the Mr X Stitch Guide To Cross Stitch book is not a normal cross stitch book. In my mind that should give you enough information to want to read it anyway, however, we got our hands on a pre-published copy, so onto the detailed review!

So the first thing to say is it has 20 patterns. These are all in the modern and contemporary style, such as small pixelated Mona Lisa, or a pineapple (actually three pineapples). The idea of the patterns, whilst being great projects, is to help explain the craft. And that’s because this book is about EVERYTHING cross stitch. It starts simple, instructions for basic patterns, and moves on to more and more complicated parts of the craft, including pattern making. But instead of stopping there Jamie goes from the very humble beginnings of cross stitch to some of the most extreme stitching around, with four key outliers of the craft (myself included), who push the boundaries of the craft. This is all backed with tips and tricks from decades of expert advice, add combined into one of the best looking cross stitch books around.
mr x stitch guide to cross stitch inside page 8-9
Jamie has always been someone to push cross stitch as an art form, and I’ve gone into some detail about is cross stitch is art or craft before (which includes a picture of Jamie stitching the Mona Lisa from the book), but instead of focusing on how people think about cross stitch, Jamie actively changes your mind. His tips of color blending and using materials such as glow in the dark threads shows you how being a little braver with your own stitches can bring a cutting edge twist to your art.

For many, cross stitch conjures up images of cute kittens and country cottages, but this book shows people that there’s a different side to cross stitching that it’s an art in its own right, and will encourage them to be a little braver with their art.

If at this point you’re not super excited, and convinced by the photos, then I don’t know what will get you excited. Frankly, I think this might be the best cross stitch book in existence.

You can pick up a copy from the publisher searchpress or your local book store.

The Rise Of The Manbroiderer

01/08/201710/10/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

Manbroidery
[man-broi-duh-ree, -dree]
noun

A movement of men who cross-stitch or embroider. A subversion of a traditionally female art form.
Any piece of embroidery or cross-stitch done by a guy

We detailed in some depth about the role of women in the history of cross stitch, and its always been a female pursuit in popular culture. However that doesn’t mean men don’t stitch, as we discussed in our post about dudes who cross stitch , and it definitely doesn’t mean they haven’t stitched in the past. In fact male embroidery can thank cheap German wool, the industrial revolution and some prisoners.

The modern manbroidery movement, has brought a lot of men into the cross stitching and embroidery world, however there’s a lot more to the movement than men just started to stitch one day. In fact, it starts back in German some 300 years ago, when thread in Britain became a comodity most people could afford. Up until this time cross stitch was firmly a female pursuit, with young ladies creating samplers to prove they could run a household. However when this cheap influx of thread came into Britain, suddely it fell out of fassion to create samplers. This all came, as at a time of economic change in Britain; the Industrial revolution.
The first men recorded to move into embroidery were actually fishermen, used to knotting together fishing nets on mass. They realised that their skills weren’t transferable to the new industries, and so set up the Arts and Crafts movement.

fine cell work prisoners cross stitching — Fine Cell Work – A prisoner cross stitching in his cell

We’ll fast forward over what was quite a termoil filled time, and start again in the 1960s with Lady Anne Tree who visited HMP Holloway women’s prison to help two female inmates. They started cross stitching and Lady Tree decided that the time spent in prison should be put to good use. She campaigned heavily for decades before the government allowed prisoners to earn money whilst in prison and finally in the late 1990s got exactly that. She created Fine Cell Work, which teaches male prisoners to cross stitch end embroider. These inmates were so good at stitching they have been featured in the Victoria and Albert, commissioned by English Heritage and been used by some of the worlds leading interior designers.

Finally, we get to the modern age. The rise of MrXStitch did a massive part to help push the 2011 craft push (helped out by the recession) and now we have flickr groups, designers creating patterns just for men, and the likes of Mr X Stitch holding the flag for all the male embroiderers.

This TEDx talk MrXStitch made actually features a lot of male embroidery, including my own stuff, it goes into detail on why cross stitch is important.

XStitch Magazine Review

25/07/201717/09/2017 ~ LordLibidan ~ Leave a comment

On our series covering the best cross stitch magazines we review the newest, and most contemporary mag, XStitch.
To do this review we’ve compiled a series of reviews from industry leaders, as well as feefo reviews.
xstitch magazine cover 1
Traditionally cross stitch gets the rep of being about teddies, flowers and all things cottage, however following the end of a few eminant cross stitch mags, Mr X Stitch, a previous pattern designer for the CrossStitcher magazine decided to take on a new challenge, and make a cross stitch magazine for all the young contemporary stitchers. As a direct result, the mag has a very different edge to its competitors, offering stylish pages, well written content, and a great heap of important cross stitchers (the first magazine had 12 designers from all over the world, including Jane Greenoff and Emily Peacock).

How has no one ever made a magazine like this before?! THIS is what I want.

instagram

Inside you’ll find only 20 patterns, but each will be crafted to a specific and topical theme each edition. Up to 50 designers submit patterns and only the best are chosen. These are then converted into 4 pattern types which are all downloadable with the mag. In addition to the usual content such as topical articles and reviews there is also an online playlist chosen by the designers to listen to as you read.
The biggest thing you’ll notice however, is there aren’t any adverts. The magazine has been put together for the readers, and its not full of filler.

As the only contemporary magazine on the market, it will either appeal or not, however I think that’s its charm.

$7 per quarter; all copies come with digital and print versions, downloadable patterns in 3 formats and online playlist

✓ Loads of patterns
✓ Lots of mainstream patterns
✓ Large readership

╳ Not many modern patterns
╳ Expensive outside of the UK
╳ Not many freebies

Score: 9.9/10
142 reviews on feefo

If you liked this review, but you’re looking for something a bit more traditional you might like our review of the CrossStitcher, or The World Of Cross Stitching review.

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