Not your mama's sampler

November 21, 2003 1:26 PM

Subversive Cross Stitch: Now I know what to get quonsar for Christmas.
posted by me3dia (17 comments total)

Via Sew Wrong, incidentally.
posted by me3dia at 1:36 PM on November 21, 2003

Ah, memories. In my family, we have the tradition of passing around The Finger. It's a life-sized plaster cast of a hand making the two-fingered peace sign. My very creative father sawed one of the fingers off, though. We give it as a gift, within the family, at various auspicious occasions, weddings, baby showers, stuff like that.

My dad's 50th birthday party was a big affair, with lots of church friends over. Dad was sitting in the middle of the crowd opening presents. He came to mine, and opened it with a flourish. Inside was a The Finger, painted metallic gold, with a little cross-stiched pillow reading "Fuck Fifty."

Good times, good times. It's now resting in peace with Dad in the Amity Presbyterian Church cemetary in Charlotte, NC. If you ever drive by there, give Dad the finger, out of respect, OK?
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:38 PM on November 21, 2003

Hey, we can all bid on the original Flying Fickle Finger of Fate!!!
and it's NOT on eBay

Good? You bet your bippy!
posted by wendell at 1:53 PM on November 21, 2003

Eh. As an avid stitcher, I've got to say, that those designs--from a stylistic point of view, suck--although that is probably part of the point, to subvert the standard style of cross stitch patterns typically found at your chain craft and sewing stores. The sentiments, though, I like. I hate how so many stitching patterns that have a saying on them always say the most cloying cliched things. Which is why I stitch a lot of band samplers and alphabet samplers--not many words on those.

I work with a woman who likes to stitch the Baby Jesus (among other religious figures) on Aida. I'm not sure what's bothers me more: the patterns she chooses to use or that fact that she uses Aida fabric. *shudders*
posted by eilatan at 3:02 PM on November 21, 2003

eilatan - I also hate those stitchery kits. Great for learning your way around, but there's no excuse for some of the patterns. Sites like Sew Wrong (linked above) link you to some great sites for finding more modern, fresh approaches to stitchery. I've found some great stuff. Also, if you can find a magazine called "Marie Claire Idees" take a look at their stuff. It's in French, but they have some fantastic ideas, and you don't need to know French to follow a lot of the embroidery and cross stitch patterns.
posted by Salmonberry at 3:29 PM on November 21, 2003

Now I suddenly want to take up cross-stitching again...
posted by Katemonkey at 4:06 PM on November 21, 2003

I always thought it would be cool to cross-stitch pictures of lurid crime scenes or purulent wounds and so on. I was kinda hoping this site was in that vein.

And some of us are really shitty at hand crafts and we need the Aida fabric, okay? I think it's a really cool invention that opens up such stitchery to those of us who are less-skilled.
posted by beth at 4:08 PM on November 21, 2003

Aida is great for learning on. I learned on Aida. But you can get non-Aida fabric is so many different thread counts and colors, that just isn't available in Aida. Although Silkweaver does carry hand dyed Aida (ignore the creepy Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum design on the page). My thinking on the matter is that if I'm going to invest time, money, and skill on a project, I want to use the best materials I can afford. For me, Aida is not a good material--a good deal of my interest in cross stitch and other forms of embroidery is a tactile one, and Aida doesn't feel good to me. I find it more difficult to work on than linen or evenweave. I also try my best to avoid metallic threads for the same reason.
posted by eilatan at 4:32 PM on November 21, 2003

Well, I'm just a dilettante, and the idea of painstakingly counting threads in linen scares the crap out of me - I'm quite sure I would screw it up.

Full disclosure: I've only ever really worked on one cross-stitch project, and it's not even finished.
posted by beth at 5:26 PM on November 21, 2003

I am not a cross stitch person. But I used to freehand embroider things on my denim jacket when I was a teen, including my name. It was fun.
posted by konolia at 5:29 PM on November 21, 2003

I cross-stitched myself an 'Office Sweet Office' wall hanging for my cubicle. Mildly subversive, at best; tongue in cheek at the least. But the linked designs are great: the sentiments and the cloying designs.
posted by tippiedog at 6:35 PM on November 21, 2003

buy me this one. do not deviate.
posted by quonsar at 9:20 PM on November 21, 2003

Game heroine invades bucolic needlepoint landscapes; wreaks aesthetic havoc.
posted by arto at 1:49 AM on November 22, 2003

Don't forget How to Cross-Stitch a Dung Beetle and this (needlepoint? cross-stitched? embroidered?) Photoshop Tool Palette
posted by kmel at 6:21 AM on November 22, 2003

Hey, subversivecrossstitch here. Yes, it's mine.

And, yes, it's SUPPOSED to be bad. I try to come up with the most cloying designs I can. That's the joke.

The designs are bad on purpose and since I'm selling mostly to beginners I'm using very basic materials like Aida (also to keep the cost down). I'm no needlepoint snob. It's more about the fun and the mistakes along the way.

Beth was right. This site's not for the stuffy guild types. Join the fun and send me your worst ideas! Julie
posted by sparky at 12:18 PM on November 23, 2003

sparky, it's always nice to see someone comment on there own stuff here (even if it's too late to catch most traffic). I'd say you have the right idea with these as they're satirical enough to really look like the real thing while saying the wrong thing.

my suggestions:

"Do onto others, then run"
"I didn't bring you into this world, but i can take you out"

and as a special request i'd love to see the fark cliche kitty reproduced in needlepoint
posted by NGnerd at 6:44 PM on November 23, 2003

The Kitty would be great.
posted by Mitheral at 12:29 PM on November 24, 2003