Which came first, the stitch or the art?

[Nicola]

Hi Everyone,

I am really interested to hear how people got started in needlwork. It seems that there are two groups, some who are interested in art and design and come to embroidery/needlework as a medium of expression, and others who were captured by the stitching itself. Which one are you?

Personally, I was 7 when my teacher gave us all some Aida and stranded cotton and taught us how to do cross and running stitch. I went home and Mum showed me her embroidery books and soon I was doing couching, chains and my favourite - sheaf stitch. I never looked back, soon I was creating my own designs and learning new techniques.

So, how about you?

[Gina E.]

I am almost embarrassed to leave my comment on this discussion! Hope there will be at least one other person who is willing to admit that like me, they don't have a creative bone in their body! I learned basic embroidery in primary school, then was forced to learn dressmaking and needlecraft at secondary school, and hated every minute of it for four years.
Funnily enough, when I started work, I discovered the Bargain Basement at Myer in Melbourne, and fell in love with remnants of fabric that I just had to buy. So I brushed up on my dressmaking knowledge and made my own dresses, blouses and skirts for the next ten years.
It wasn't until I was about 30 that I bought my first embroidery kit from a magazine. It was a crewel design based on a Dutch Delft pattern, and the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. From then on, I was hooked, and bought up heaps of kits which I still have - some finished, but most not! I eventually discovered books and charts, and did mostly cross stitch for a long time, with an occasional foray into traditional needlework. Since joining Stitchin' Fingers I've discovered patchwork, and crazy quilting, so I have become a little bit creative in that field. But with cross stitch and embroidery, I stick to stamped linen or counted threads.

[Kim Ostrosky]

What an interesting query! For me it's definitely the stitching first. My great-grandmother, grandmother and mother were all stitchers so I inherited it all from them. My great-grandmother did crochet and cross stitch, my grandmother knits and crochets now, but used to cross stitch and embroider as well. She has since stopped cross stitching and embroidery because her failing eyesight makes it too difficult. My mother used to cross stitch and also did a lot of painting as well. She has been busy with other pursuits in the last several years so has dropped both hobbies. My sister is a knitter, and I picked up on the cross stitch and embroidery. I don't do much of my own designing, I usually work off other designer's patterns, but my sister does a lot of designing in her knitting.

I started cross stitching when I was 7 - I got a kit to make a jewelery box. It's hard green plastic with a panda cross stitched on the top in yarn, and my grandmother still has it!! Since then I have stitched on and off over the years, and just recently (in the last 2 years) have picked it back up.

[Suzanne Campbell]

I'm a stitcher, but I like to play around with colour and design. Back in the 1950s, kids who had measles were quarantined from school for six weeks. At the same time as I was cut off from school, our 16 year old neighbour was in quarantine for scarlet fever (does anyone get scarlet fever these days?) and to fill the endless month, I went to her place nearly every day. Her mother taught me "fancywork" and my mother bought me a "duchess" doily kit for my elder sister's trousseau, or as we used to say, glory box. I learned satin stitch, lazy daisy, stem stitch and french knots. I was 9 when i finished it. An old friend of my mother gave me a book that is still one of my treasures - a 1930s edition of Weldon's Needlework Encyclopedia. It's a real Depression production, but it gives instructions for every kind of fabric work except macrame. It includes French tricot, how to make a fishing net, drawn thread work... the list is long. Best of all, it gives the histories of the various forms, often going back to medieval times, and includes grainy photos of old work from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. I've tried a lot of these old forms of needlework. With some, I came to the conclusion that either our mothers and grandmothers were a lot more skilled, or had plenty of leisure time.

I still do Hardanger, net darning, ribbon work and some heirloom type embroidery, but I really like Hungarian Point (Bargello) tapestry, done in stranded cottons and silks on a light single thrum canvas. It's fast, doesn't strain the eyes too much and although it's based on traditional patterns, the colours and optical effects can be spectacular. I would really love to be able to pass on these ancient skills, but is anyone prepared to learn? It's an instant world. I doubt it. When I can get hold of a digital camera, I'll post a few pictures.

[mauvedragon]

To answer the question, I learnt to stitch first. I could hand sew by age eight. I did one embroidery project at school which was very uninspiring - a tie dye pillow embellished with embroidery. It's only in the last year and a half that my interest in embroidery, knitting etc, etc has really exploded my world. It's only in the last three months that I have had the guts to start creating my own designs. I've taken the plunge to become a professional artist.

Suzanne Campbell said:

I would really love to be able to pass on these ancient skills, but is anyone prepared to learn? It's an instant world. I doubt it. When I can get hold of a digital camera, I'll post a few pictures.

You might be surprised. I'm 24. I'm self-taught because the craft gene skipped a generation in my family. Most of the people I know who are doing craft are under 40.

[Sibille Kreideweiss]

I create all my designs and get them published. I learned to stitch as a child, back then in Germany there wasn't much more than cross stitch, latch hooking and tapestry. I had no idea about Hardanger or needlepoint, different materials were hard to come by. There was aida, stranded cotton and that was it. Linen was too expensive, though Zweigart is German.

My father was an artist, so I guess I got my love for colours and colour matching from him. I've to admit I've not inherited his drawing skills... as much as I would like.

I love Hardanger, and I play around with different materials and fabrics as well. Currently I'm also trying to get into gold work (but I've to put that one off for a little while). I've opened my mind and my skills to so much more.

As to Suzanne's remark: I was amazed to see a complete school class from a private girl's school attending the Craft & Quiltfair 2 weeks ago. All of them had to do some workshop and broaden their minds with what's on offer. And these girls had a lot of fun. They were there all day long and enjoyed themselves with classes and buying supplies. I think not all is lost in this world.

Yes, I truly hope these ancient wonderful skills will not be lost in this instant world, where people live for their electronic gadgets and look at cross stitch to ask, if this comes somewhere from an African tribe.... (no, I'm not kidding here, someone did ask me that question....)

Happy stitching
Sibille

[Lyn Clinton]

I'm a stitch first person too.  But I wonder if it's because of my age?  I'm 58 and when I was a child it was normal to have a piece of embroidery on the go - usually a tray cloth or dressing table set (not so these days - electronic handheld toys seem to be the norm).  Then as a young wife and mother, sewing, smocking, knitting and crochet were skills used to make the most of very little money.  Now I stitch for sheer pleasure and find joy in the textures and colours.

[Sibille Kreideweiss]

I was the same. Back then it was of course much less elaborate with the materials available in Germany (not that this has changed a lot, but with the Internet people there have now more access to much more choice), but I always loved stitching. I knitted and crocheted, and even tried a little sewing - very unsuccessfully I've to say, but it's good enough for curtains, cushions, doilies and finishings.

When I look at many folks today, all their hands can hold are ipads, ipods and other electronic gadgets. If you unpack your embroidery you get stared at as if you're an alien... what, you don't have a phone to play with??

 

 

Lyn Clinton said:

I'm a stitch first person too.  But I wonder if it's because of my age?  I'm 58 and when I was a child it was normal to have a piece of embroidery on the go - usually a tray cloth or dressing table set (not so these days - electronic handheld toys seem to be the norm).  Then as a young wife and mother, sewing, smocking, knitting and crochet were skills used to make the most of very little money.  Now I stitch for sheer pleasure and find joy in the textures and colours.

[ANNA KOUSI]

I know this "alien" feeling!

 Nobody I know here in Greece stitch anymore! And it is even hard to find the materials you want!

 I am 38 and since my mother died four years ago I cannot find even an experienced woman to teach me anything apart from cross stitching! So I learn alone... Sometimes it gets so annoying: imagine that I have the perfect hardanger tablecloth made by my mother and recently I have bought through internet hardanger kits in order to learn!!!!!!!! ( when she stitched it I was around 20 and too young and fool to learn)

But I am a stitcher. In fact I am a learning stitcher at the first grade of primary school!

[mauvedragon]

I must confess if I'm stitching in public, I probably have headphones plugged into my ipod for music. I've never seen anyone look at me as if I'm an alien, but then again I wouldn't care if they did.

Sibille Kreideweiss said:

<snip>

When I look at many folks today, all their hands can hold are ipads, ipods and other electronic gadgets. If you unpack your embroidery you get stared at as if you're an alien... what, you don't have a phone to play with??

 

 

[Sibille Kreideweiss]

This is very sad.... Greece and all the other souther countries in Europe like Spain, Italy or Portugal have such a rich tradition in embroidery. I remember when we were back in Germany in 2000 (we migrated to Australia in 92)  I was amazed what little change has been there with embroidery. Despite the fact that Zweigart is a German fabric weaver, it was hardly possible to get anything higher than 25 ct. Yes, there was one shop I found close to where we lived that sold 30 upt to 60 ct, but she didn't have the thread for use with it. The only thing fashionable in Germany was cross stitch, needlepoint (as tapestry only) and latch hooking. That was it.

I'm completely self taught in Hardanger and many other things.

ANNA KOUSI said:

I know this "alien" feeling!

 Nobody I know here in Greece stitch anymore! And it is even hard to find the materials you want!

 I am 38 and since my mother died four years ago I cannot find even an experienced woman to teach me anything apart from cross stitching! So I learn alone... Sometimes it gets so annoying: imagine that I have the perfect hardanger tablecloth made by my mother and recently I have bought through internet hardanger kits in order to learn!!!!!!!! ( when she stitched it I was around 20 and too young and fool to learn)

But I am a stitcher. In fact I am a learning stitcher at the first grade of primary school!

[Sibille Kreideweiss]

Dont' get me wrong, I've nothing against hearing music, it also blocks out noise distractions from around you, I do that sometimes at work, when my colleagues are too noise and I want to work in piece and quiet with my numbers (I'm a data controller), but I mean these zombie like creatures now surrounding us with their fingers constantly in motion on their miniature screens and ear plugs, dead to the world (which unfortunately includes cars and people too...), and then look at you as if you're mad. I don't care either.

mauvedragon said:

I must confess if I'm stitching in public, I probably have headphones plugged into my ipod for music. I've never seen anyone look at me as if I'm an alien, but then again I wouldn't care if they did.

Sibille Kreideweiss said:

<snip>

When I look at many folks today, all their hands can hold are ipads, ipods and other electronic gadgets. If you unpack your embroidery you get stared at as if you're an alien... what, you don't have a phone to play with??

 

 

[Angeliki Goude]

Good question!  I hadn't drawn anything for years then some cross stitched rude word stuff caught my eye online and I thought 'how interesting-cross stitch and irony-wow!'  Then after figuring out how to cross stitch I designed a teddy bear and made him a punk.  This opened up a huge world of possibility to me as I realised that there was embroidery too!  Oh the things I could do!  Suddenly I had a sketch pad full of ideas and I've been stitching like mad ever since...18 months now but I can't imagine my life without needle floss and embroidery hoop!