The Dark Side of Cross Stitch: Gothic, Witchy & Spooky Books

Cross stitch has a reputation for being traditional, twee, and wholesome. The flower patterns, the samplers, the cute animals. I do like these, but some people don’t. And it doesn’t have to be like that.

There is another side to cross stitch. One that is growing month by month, in the face of current trends like cottagecore. One filled with skeletons, ghosts, witches, death, gothic architecture, medieval imagery, strange animals, occult symbolism, and generally weird stuff. And I am SO there for it.

Gothic, witchy, macabre, historical and downright weird cross stitch isn’t just a niche curiosity anymore. There is clearly a market for it. Publishers are repeatedly producing entire pattern books around the aesthetic, all of which gain massive positive buzz and great reviews on places like Amazon.

 

Why Is Weird Cross Stitch So Popular?

With all the trends, pattern types, popular IPs, all the small designers, big designers, and everyone in between, does the weird and dark seem to be doing so well right now?

It Escaped The Sampler

For a long time, the public perception of cross stitch seemed to be tied to the traditional sampler. As time went on, the “three patterns” of the early 2000s opened this up slightly, but modern cross stitch took it to a new extreme, offering anything you might desire in cross stitch form.

And I mean that too. Cross stitch isn’t about stitching something specific; it works if you’re stitching home sweet home or a skeleton riding a bat through a haunted forest that’s glitching out.

But actually, there are a few things that make the weird and macabre particularly popular.

It Makes Dark Things Cosy

We mentioned the cottagecore trend at the moment, but actually, the true point of that trend is making something cosy. And the dark does something like that too.
This isn’t a case of a scary skeleton that makes you want to hide; this is a case of making a fun skeleton making a bones joke, or a little cute ghost.

There is something inherently funny about taking something traditionally associated with darkness and horror and turning it into a little handmade textile object.
To take cross stitch, the cutest of cute hobbies, and turn it a bit dark and dangerous.

And it helps that there are just so many dark things that can be turned cute!
Horror is getting another boost right now, but so is cute horror!

People Want Weird

Millennial Grey anyone? My house is full of it. And it’s boring.
The same can be said for your hobby. In fact, putting up cross stitch on millennial grey is a great way to fix the boring walls!

But this is the one thing I’m most proud of when it comes to cross stitch; you can turn it into anything, but there are people out there who already have.

Pull up Etsy, and you can find patterns for horror, witchcraft, folklore, medieval history, occult, dark academia, and anything gothic you can imagine!
Cross stitch has finally gone from being a hobby of a select few patterns and into something anyone can join, yet still feel like it’s their hobby.

And people love it!
There is actually a trend right now on /r/crossstitch where people share their creepy cross stitch walls!

The Best Creepy Cross Stitch Book Right Now

There are LOADS of books out there right now about this. From Creepy cross stitch, to Witchy Sttiching and everything inbetween, I’m sure you’ll find the book you want.

There is something out there for you. However, we do have a hot favorite right now:

 
However, if you’re just dipping your toes into the world of the weird, maybe the Cross Stitch Cabinet Of Curiosities is more your bag.

Why Does Unusual Cross Stitch Work?

I’ve picked the dark and spooky cross stitch for this post, but that doesn’t mean this is the only weird pattern topic trending right now. From just plain weird to unusual subjects or even weird finishing, there are bigger audiences out there for your cross stitch dreams than you might think.

There will always be people who want to stitch flowers, samplers and cute animals. But there are also stitchers who want ravens, skeletons, witches, medieval monsters and things that probably shouldn’t be hanging on the wall of a nursery.

And judging by the growing number of books, patterns and designers catering to them, they’re not exactly struggling to find something to stitch.

Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan