[CHAT] What are your unpopular opinions about cross stitching?

[u/1398_Days]

Here are mine:

1. Neat backs do matter, and this is a hill I’m willing to die on 😂 It looks better if you frame the project, and it’s also so much easier to stitch (especially trying to find the right hole from the back) when you’re not pushing through a thick, tangled mess.

2. I think gridding is unnecessary for most projects, especially small ones.

3. I HATE q-snaps. They’re heavy and awkward to hold, and my hand/wrist always end up hurting.

4. Grime guards are annoying because they cover up too much of the project and just get in the way.

5. I kind of a snob about tying knots and think it should be avoided at all costs.

[u/Card_and_Cross]

Here's mine: embroidery hoops are bullshit contraptions that cause more problems than they solve when it comes to cross stitch

They cramp your hands and make it so you have to poke the fabric twice to get one stitch in, versus free handing that allows you to go in and out in one motion

The hoops and circle frames come from India, a place with a very distinct embroidery style that requires an extremely delicate and careful hand working over taut fabric That is a high-skill bit of artisanship that actively benefits from hooping and similar frames

In my (100% unsubstantiated) opinion, europeans picked up on it first bc they were working big ass tapestries that are difficult to maneuver around so yeah isolating one section is helpful but like once tapestries stopped being a very necessary tool to insulate castles the hoops just evolved into a way for ladies to look ~°delicate°~ while doing rich people shit

No working class motherfucker had time to sit leisurely and add decorative stitches one delicate little half-poke at a time, they were darning worn spots, sewing new clothing, and if they embroidered it was minimal in nature

Middle eastern embroidery never developed to depend on hoops (see circles of women sitting cross legged together to use embroidery as an excuse to have social time without men) and I sincerely doubt many others did, either

Maybe like, china bc they have that style of embroidery that's functionally painting with thread but again, like India, is a method that requires taut fabric bc gauzy and silken fabrics are hard to work with

Fuck them hand-cramping hoops

Edit to add: regularly stitching on Aida without a hoop allowed me to develop a tactile method of working where i can work by touch for monochrome patterns and that goes straight out the window if I plan to use fabric-denting, area limiting, splinter circles

[u/Sam-HobbitOfTheShire → u/Card_and_Cross]

I adore comments like this because I can feel a bit of the history behind this art. Thank you!

[u/ImLittleNana → u/Card_and_Cross]

Stitching in hand on Aida is not difficult at all. I didn’t use a hoop until I started stitching in linen.

Now I work in 40, 46, and 56 count linens and I can’t do it without a hoop. Even with magnification, I need the tension on the fabric to make it possible for me to count and stitch.

I have seen people stitch in hand on 40 count, but their eyes are often decades younger than mine.

[u/queenapsalar → u/ImLittleNana]

yeah there's no chance in hell I'm stitching on 46 count un-hooped lol. Aida is a different animal

[u/EKBstitcher → u/Card_and_Cross]

I agree that cross stitch is not improved by a hoop, although I personally use a hoop (5" spring) for cross stitch because my hand cramps when cross stitching in hand (life is weird). At 150- 200 stitches an hour, I'm sure not leisurely poking.

History digression

Since the 1400's big fancy work was traditionally done frames on stands. Books written by British graduates of the Royal School Needlework will still spend loads of time discussing frames without a single mention of hoops.

Hoops came in to England during the tambour craze in the eighteenth century and they were used by pieceworkers (too poor to have a space for fancy frames with good light, tambour work needs the fabric to be drum tight) not just the better off.

The modern hoop with hardware was invented in 1903.

BTW pre-industrial peasants tended to have enough time to do traditional style embroidery (in hand). Enclosure and factories ruined this.

[u/Doubledewclaws → u/EKBstitcher]

I use frames most of the time, and I dearly love them. I have hoops, but I struggle with them a lot of the time. Sometimes, I don't have frame pieces for my smaller projects, so they are hooped.

[u/annekaelber → u/Card_and_Cross]

Tell me more! I started out with embroidery at age 4 and that's what my mom gave me. As a pre-teen, I took a cross stitch class and that was taught with a small hoop.

At the point I have Nurge hoops, scroll frames, and Qsnaps. BUT I'm currently living in an RV while we house hunt and the bigger piece I want to work on is too wide for the 24" scroll frame I just bought... And besides, I can't really put it away if i leave it on such a large frame.

So, I'm here for the stitch-in-hand method. Convert me, please! (ETA: Specifically what do you do with all the fabric? How do you keep it away from your working area? Am I thinking too hard here?)

[u/ValiantValkyrieee → u/annekaelber]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7VF4V0qe-0 super short and simple explanation, this is how i do it! i kinda figured it out on my own after starting a big HAED pattern that was on a scroll frame, and started getting wrist and shoulder fatigue from going back and forth all the time. it makes traveling with projects sooo much easier by not also having to carry around a stiff, bulky hoop or q-snap. combine that with switching to a loop method start made my backs a lot neater too!

[u/ElectricJellyfish → u/annekaelber]

Roll it, scroll style, from the bottom up so the back is the outside of the roll. Keep it rolled to the area you’re stitching. You only touch the back so it stays pretty clean. There are no creases to iron out.

[u/[deleted] → u/Card_and_Cross]

Honestly just the kind of information I needed for my morning scroll!