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Tuesday 8 March 2011

Coming out of the stitching closet

I've been cross stitching since I was very young but have always been quite secretive about my hobby.  When I was at school I didn't tell my friends because I thought they would make fun of me and this has kind of stuck as I've got older.  I used to put photos of my stitching on groups on Facebook but would never add them to my news feed for fear of ridicule.

A couple of months ago I was asked to be on the reader panel for World of Cross Stitching Magazine and was amazed when after it was published about 10 people got in touch with me asking if it was me.  I didn't know that any of these people were interested in cross stitching.

It was this realisation that there are lots of people out there who stitch that made me more confident about coming out of the stitching closet.  So now I am trying to promote my blog more on Facebook and when I add photos I am making it so that they are visible to all my friends.

It feels really good to be able to share this part of my life which I've kept secret for such a long time.

Thanks for sharing my stitching life with me!

12 comments:

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I'm so glad you're out of the needlework closet! I've always been out as I used to stitch on the daily commute. It's a great way to get chatting to people even the ones who called it knitting or crochet!

In fact more of my pieces live in other people's houses than in mine.

The only time I'm careful is when I'm planning to stitch something for a friend who has a closer friend or a relative who also stitches. I once upset someone by doing a more ornate piece than her for mutual friend's wedding.

Going to go look in my back issues of WOCS now. ps I was in Cross Stitch Collections letters page this month and just got my free Madeira Metallics for it.

Nic said...

Thanks Jo - I've just looked at my copy of Cross Stitch Collection - is yours the letter about the Joan Elliott Christmas Angel? If it is then this is an absolutely stunning and unusual way to have stitched a design. Very inspirational!

Shelley said...

Funny you talk about the stitching closet. I've still got one foot in that safe warm dark little closet. Thanks for sharing your story :)

Nic said...

Shelley - thanks for your comment - hope you feel inspired to step out of the closet soon xx

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Yes, the Christmas angel in bits is mine. I think the credit goes to JE for designing something which looks good even in fragments! Although I did spend 2 days deciding which bits to stitch where!

By the by, I'm trying to help get a Mirabilia Round Robin going based in the UK. One of the other stitchers had the idea and there's about 4 of us interested so far. Would you be up for it? The info is on the WWRR Yuko board and also the Mirabilia board:
http://twbbroundrobins.yuku.com/topic/1381/Newbie-UK-Mira-Round-Robin-Question.
Have a look if you're interested.

Nic said...

Jo I am intrigued by the idea of a RR but I have no idea how it works. I'll read a bit on the link you sent me but if you could e-mail me with some more information to obsessivecrossstitcher@gmail.com I'd be grateful. Do you pass around one large design, how do you know how much to do on each piece, how long do you have before you need to pass it on?

Thanks for inviting me - Nic

Anonymous said...

Jo - I love that Christmas Angel in fragments - what a fantastic idea!!
Nic - I'm also out of the stitching closet! Am now of the opinion that I couldn't care less what people think of my hobbies - however the people I've shown the cross stitching are amazed!

P.S I don't have a blog, but am Nic's sister and was just wondering whether there was any chance I could also join the RR??

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Hi anonymous! I'm emailing Nic, she'll tell you all about it. You don't need a blog to enter.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jo - I'm Louise by the way - I'm a bit of a technaphobe and so can't work out how to comment on here without being anonymous!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Ok Louise, if you look below the word verification box it says "choose an identity", I guess you pick anon there? If you click on Google Account instead you can follow the instructions to create a Google Identity. The you can add a little pic (like my heart) and choose a clever nickname (or not!) so everyone will know who you are.
You can create a blog later using the google id if you want. It's one of my "intend to do" things this year. Now I just follow everyone else's!
Hope this helps.

Bec said...

I was like that at school after I told people I cross stitched. I was made fun of so I stepped back into the stitching closet and gave up stitching all together for awhile.
I'm so glad that with age came the wisedom of not caring about what people think. It makes me happy and that is all that matters!

I'm so glad you came out of your stitchy closet and made your blog, I really do enjoy reading it! :)

Nic said...

Bec - so glad you came back out of the closet - love reading your blog too :-)