Cross Stitch Gallery

I’ve long admired the work of embroidery and textile artists. When I was a born, my Mom’s friend embroidered me a scene from the fairy tale the Princess and the Frog. The framed scene was in my bedroom until maybe high school. I’d admire the neat, colourful stitches wondering how she had made it. Whenever I’d see embroidery or textile art, I was filled with the same sense of wonder and would think that’s “not something I could ever do.”

One day, early in the pandemic of March 2020, I was alone and anxious in my apartment and decided to sew some patches on my jean jacket for the first time. I wasn’t really sure how to do this but had learned a basic stitch from my Mom and grandmother as a child. I took the small mending kit I had in my apartment and slowly starting sewing the first patch on.

The sewing took a lot of time. The machine embroidered patches and jean jacket material were both thick and it sometimes hurt my arthritic fingers to push the needle through. I took lots of breaks, and had the TV play sitcoms in the background for company. By the end of the spring, my jacket was complete, covered in the patches I’d been collecting and “saving” for years.

Every time I wore my jacket that first summer, I felt such a sense of satisfaction knowing I had sewn each patch by hand. It felt like I was wearing the magical coat of many colours from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

When it was time to hang my jean jacket up for the season, I took note of a beautiful cross stitch I’d bought from Guelph artist Hoops by Han. It reminded me that each pixel of colour in a cross stitch is compromised of just two stitches. I realized that although I could not recreate what was in front of me I could theoretically cross stitch if it is two stitches, over and over. This inspired me to start looking up what I would need to get started and watched some tutorials.

The first hoop I ever finished was completely improvised. I wanted to practice stitching and get a sense of what I liked. My first hoop is the abstract one below. Once I had completed that one, I felt the same satisfaction and confidence I felt when I finished my jean jacket. I felt inspired to keep stitching and am still stitching today.

In my first year, I made 10 hoops - mostly small ones, but one that sadly did not survive as I ended up cutting it up in frustration lol. 8 are pictured here, the 9th was another 4 inch Christmas ornament.

The best part of this journey, has been that I was recently asked by two girlfriends to stitch scenes for their new babies and nurseries. To think that all those years ago, I looked up at the embroidered Princess and the Frog and thought I would never learn to use a needle. Now I’m stitching for my friends’ babies just like my Mom’s friend embroidered for me when I was a baby. I still can’t embroider but I sure do love stitching and I will never say “never” when it comes to trying new mediums now.

If you want to buy hand stitched hoops, visit Hoops by Han on Instagram or Etsy.

For free cross stitch patterns, I started with the D.M.C. website. When I was ready to buy patterns, I opted for ones by Montreal artist Samantha Purdy.