Mr X Stitch is the place to keep your crafty finger on the pulse of all that is great in the world of embroidery and cross-stitch. Where did the site come from and why? Only Mr X Stitch himself can tell you. Lucky for us Joetta Maue decided it was about time they asked.
Joetta, who writes regularly for the Mr X Stitch site decided it was about time the site's founder, Jamie Chalmers and his stitching genius, was put under the spotlight. Her interview, Future Heirlooms: the man himself, does just that.
From learning to embroider through stitching a small piece of the Bayeux Tapestry at school to subversive stitching and what it's like to be a 'male needle lover' Jamie's story is all kinds of fascinating. His crusade for cross stitch and embroidery rather than simply showcasing his own work is inspiring stuff too.
It is certainly very clear why Mr X Stitch is 'number one contemporary embroidery and needlecraft blog on the planet'.
Mr X Stitch, we salute you. Long may you stitch.
Smashing out of comic books and onto our screens, taking out evil ex-boyfriend's everywhere, you can't miss Scott Pilgrim Vs The World at the moment. In tribute to his ex-boyfriend busting and in true crafty style here's a little cross-stitch to celebrate.
The geek gals over at Dork Adore are responsible for pointing me in the direction of these free cross stitch Scott Pilgrim patterns by Dork Stitch.
Get your needle into a bit of Knives Chau, swoon while stitching the not-very-manly-but-still-rockin' Scott Pilgrim, and finish with some Ramona Flowers to the face!
A chance for you to get in training for should you ever need to defeat any evil exes with your craft skills.
World Cup Craft is an odd world and it doesn't get much odder in my eyes than cross stitching the face of a member of the England squad. Still if you're into cross stitch and you feel like stitching yourself a footballer's face then why not?
The Empress of All Things Crafty at The Guardian, Miss Perri Lewis, introduces us to a "strangely compelling" cross stitch pattern for "Wayne Rooney's massive face" from Crossstitcher Magazine.
It's a shame they didn't make one for Defoe after the goal against Slovenia, eh? He'd be on tea towels and samplers across the nation.
Still there's time before the next match if anyone out there wants to give it a go.
Us crafty types have come to learn that cross stitch is no longer the home of twee images of tweeting love birds and platitudes about home being a place there is nowhere like. Cross stitch has come a long way of late and nothing proves it better then the fabulous thread-based patterns that are popping up all over.
One that caught my London-loving eye recently was these Lloyds Building cross stitch kits from Hidden Art London. The futuristic insides-outside building, designed by Richard Rogers, is the perfect subject for being captured in cross stitch.
The kits feature original designs and are designed and assembled in London using good quality Anchor threads and Zweigart fabric.
A little piece of some amazing London architecture to get your needle into and something far more interesting to show anyone who sneers at your cross stitch love.
Leanne Prain, co-author of Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, is looking for unexpected embroiderers. She's not talking about falling asleep and waking up finding that you've sewn the image of Cliff Richard's face onto one of your throw pillows. She's searching for those who embroider outside the box.
Like her Yarn Bombing book Leanne is hoping to bring together folks at the forefront of subversive stitching once more for Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery. This time they have smaller needles but similar values. They're the folks taking their craft and turning expectations of tweeting birds and blossoming flowers on their heads.
To put it simply "If you describe your stitch-work as arresting, subversive, quirky, or conceptual, Hoopla should feature your design work."
Full details of how to submit can be found here.
Go forth and pimp your subversive stitching. Go on.
Everyone should be encouraged to take their vote seriously in as many ways as possible. If you can't get the message across with words then how about a bit of encouragement to vote via the medium of cross stitch?
My Little Stitches has created a set of four election-themed cross stitch charts to aid people in their quest to get their fellows to vote. Featuring phrases like "Be seen. Be heard. Vote. Be counted." and "Bad politicians are given power by good people who don't vote" the cross stitch patterns have the potential to be used anywhere once they're stitched up.
You can also find out more about the patterns on Craftivist and see larger versions on their Flickr group.
Related posts: How to make a fabric rosette
When you feel the need to say what you really mean while keeping your message aesthetically pleasing then a bit of cross stitch with attitude might be just the thing for you. There's an Etsy seller who is not only thinking what you're thinking, she's stitching it too.
Purple Hippo's Etsy shop invites you to join them in some Snarky Fun Cross Stitch.
Legends such as the sunshiney "I hate people" and several less printable sayings can be found stitched all pretty and framed all nice.
If you feel like passing on your rage, disillusion and bubbling resentment then it doesn't have to be ugly.
Find Purple Hippo's shop on Etsy here or become a fan of her stitched rage on Facebook.
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