Stitch by Stitch We Cross-Stitch

I might only be one part of the process that begins long before me, a link in a chain.
~ My mom

As a child, I remember my mom cross-stitching, sitting for hours as she stitched string onto her canvas, creating beautiful pictures. In fact, she still has an unfinished cross-stitch of a garden scene in the bottom drawer of her nightstand, her vision not being of much aid to her past hobby now (she turned to crochet instead). Years later, my freshman-year roommate, Vivienne, similarly would sit down in the evenings, cross-stitching beautiful pictures of plants, frogs, and mushrooms. It seemed like such a beautiful art form, and I felt nudged towards it, growing more and more interested in cross-stitching.

Cross-stitching's history is a long and culture-crossing one. The art form dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, originating in China during the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD) and having spread to the Western world through trade routes. It was used mostly to embellish items like household linens, tablecloths, dishcloths, and doilies. Today, most cross-stitchers create these beautiful designs on Aida cloth to hang them up as decorations.

For those of you who don’t know how cross-stitching works, let me introduce you to it (click on those hyperlinks for visual representation!) You start on a piece of fabric called an Aida cloth that has rows of tiny holes. With a needle and thread, you wave in and out of those holes, creating little 'x's as you go. Those stitches soon create a beautiful artwork. For those who are familiar with pixel art, that is how patterns are created; just a picture of colored dots. During the actual cross-stitching, those dots are replaced by ‘x’ stitches.

To be honest, I was hesitant to pursue cross-stitching at first. In what concerned art, I usually liked having full liberty to do as I wished, to go in whatever order and direction I wanted. But cross-stitching was different; there was a pattern to be followed and, often, specific colors to use. Part of me felt restricted by this, but I later learned to love the sense of order. It was relaxing to ground yourself and follow a pattern that was already carved out for you, to sit back and watch the art create itself stitch by stitch.

Cross-stitching quickly became to me a new way to understand and interact with art. My first finished project was dedicated to my dad for his birthday, barely a few weeks after my initiation to the art form. I remember hurrying to finish it on the plane, the lady next to me watching as I worked. Later on, as I became more and more comfortable with cross-stitching and gaining experience with every finished piece, I would find myself relaxing in the evenings after long days of classes, stitching away at a cute cat cross-stitch. I now have a few cross-stitches hanging up at home and in the dorms. It became a way for me to relax from the bustling life around me, to center myself and focus on something specific that would let my mind stray as my hands worked. I quickly learned to recognize it as an art form that highlights the simple pleasures in life as it allows one to stop for a moment in time and engage in an activity that targets patience and determination. I also see it fitting in art through its embellishment of things that may seem common, such as tablecloths or curtains, or through the touch it brings to an empty wall when hung up. No cross-stitch is ever the same, even if the pattern is the same, and the beauty of it lies in the creativity it adds to the mundane.

My journey would not have been complete without the influence of my mom and Vivienne, so it felt only natural to include their views on cross-stitching in this article. I was curious as to what they loved about cross-stitching and how they understood its place in art. My mom explained her love for cross-stitching by saying, “The fact that it was an empty canvas, it was nothing, and that through my work, if I worked well, of course, beautiful images appeared by my hand. Even if you followed a pattern, you worked through a process that demanded a lot of time, whether a week or months, and you became the artist of a beautiful image.” Vivienne Lupu (junior, social work) added, “I enjoy cross-stitching because it gives me something to do with my hands. As someone who fidgets a lot or has a short attention span when it comes to movies, at times, it helps to have something to do.” As to their views on cross-stitching as an art form, my mom explained, “It is art because it creates something. Even the pattern itself is a form of art. I might be the maker, but it is not only my work; the process starts with the person who created the pattern dot by dot and chose the specific colors. I might only be one part of the process that begins long before me, a link in a chain.” It is a very beautiful view that accentuates the beauty of the process. Vivienne, on the other hand, decided to highlight cross-stitching’s potential for creativity, saying that it “is essentially a color by number in the sense that there is a map that tells you what color stitches go where. So people can easily express their own forms of cross stitches by creating patterns of their own! It's a very versatile art form.”

Cross-stitching is an art form that accentuates but also embellishes the mundane, adding colorful designs to everyday objects and walls and highlighting human nature’s love for aesthetics. I am so thankful for the people who encouraged me to discover this art form, and I look forward to this continued journey!