Colorado Cross Stitcher is located in Loveland, Colorado. She has a FlossTube/YouTube channel and runs a virtual Cross Stitch Camp. She also publishes a newsletter. Her last one contained the article Top Ten: Stitching Then and Now. You can sign up for her newsletter on her website. You can also follow her on Instagram. My comments are in italics.
1. It’s not just about geese and teddy bears any more. While I never stitched geese, I certainly did a few with teddy bears. One was a notebook cover for my Mom where she could keep info on her stitching.
2. The color palettes have shifted.
3. We used to work on one project at a time. Pretty much. You’d go to the stitching store and pick a pattern, a fabric, and the flosses. You’d work on it until it was done. Then you got to go back to the store and pick another project. The only stash we had was a stash of patterns that we had already completed. And now I have multiple projects going at one time and my stash is enough to last me for many lifetimes.
4. We stitched with DMC pretty much exclusively. (Unless you were fancy and bought a kit with imported threads.) A good day was finding DMC 10 skeins for $1.00 at Lee Wards, so you could round out your stash on your bobbins. The only time I had stitched with anything other than DMC was when a chart appeared in JustCross Stitch magazine by Eva Rosenstand that used her floss which I special ordered. I still have my Columbine Pillow. And through the years, my mom and I collected what was then a full set of DMC.
5. Here’s a question for you – what did we keep our projects in? I don’t remember any project bags. Or even Ziploc bags. After a time, I remember a type of project keeper. You’d buy one of those (if you were lucky) for your one project. Before that, did we keep them in tote bags or something? The first tote bag I remember is one my mom got me. It was a quilted bag with handles and pockets inside. I still have it.
6. Now we have Hand-Dyed Fabrics – Remember when we were excited to have just 3 or 4 Aida options? Now the options truly seem almost limitless. Hand dyed fabrics bring more texture and variety to your stitching, and can make the finished piece more interesting. All I really had was aida in cream or white or a flecked oatmeal color. Now the choices of fabrics and colors is unlimited. But because of poor eyesight, I am back to aida.
7. Now we have Hand-Dyed Flosses – As with the fabrics, the variance in hand-dyed flosses brings more interest and texture to your finished pieces. Whether you cross your X’s as you go, or stitch down a row and back, the color variation is fun to watch. (Although most all of us also still stitch with DMC as well.) My first use of hand-dyed floss was in 2014 with my very first Blackbird Design charts. I love them now.
8. Now we have Silk Flosses – I’m not sure if there were any silk options back in the day, but I’ll tell you what – I’m not sure I would have stitched with anything else if I had tried it back then. It’s like stitching with butter. While I love some of the silks out there, some are so slippery I find them impossible to use. My favorites are Glorianna silks. My very favorite is Poinsettia. Unfortunately, I don’t use them much because of the cost.
9. Now we have cool notions and fun things to bring extra joy to our stitching. Things like: Beautiful Scissors, Pins, Needle Minders, and Stickers.
10. Patterns, patterns, and more patterns. All done up in different styles, different colors, and different sizes. A plethora of patterns! Our choices now are never ending. And there are some designers I have never stitched yet I have enough charts to last me several lifetimes.
Pat, it was interesting to read your responses to the then and now from the Colorado Cross Stitcher newsletter. I am glad there are many themes/designs/offerings. For a while, I thought cross stitch was dying out, but there seems to be a resurgence with younger stitchers. Have a good week!