If you believe the internet, ‘craftivism’ is a hot new craze sweeping the
planet. Happily, this couldn’t be further from the truth, as craft and
protest have been merrily cohabiting since your great, great, great-
grandmother’s time. The Luddite, Suffragette, second-wave feminist
and peace movements were among many to share a passion and
understanding of the power handmade objects have to subversively
communicate ideas. Craft has the power to change minds, and a
radical craft circle has the power to change the world.
...................
THE BASICS
FABRIC: The most common material used for cross-stitch is known
as Aida cloth. It has a special weave to make sure the holes in the
fabric are evenly spaced, so your stitches stay nice and square and
even. Aida cloth comes in different ‘counts’ that indicate the number
of threads per inch. Most cross-stitch is completed on 14-count
Aida – you can use a different count, but make sure you do a little
sample to see whether you need to use more or less strands of
thread when you stitch.
EMBROIDERY HOOPS: Embroidery hoops aren’t essential to use,
but they do make life a lot easier and will help keep your fabric
tension nice and tight. There are already millions in the world, so if
you don’t have one, check the craft supplies at your local op shop
before you buy a new hoop. To use, simply lay your fabric between
the two rings and tighten the screw to create tension. It’s best if you
can use a hoop that’s a little bigger than your project area, so you
don’t have to keep moving it around and squashing your stitches.
NEEDLES: There are all sorts of needles out there, and cross-
stitch has its own special type. Cross-stitch needles are thin, with
a blunt end and a long thread hole. Again, it’s not essential to use a
specialist needle, but it does make stitching a lot easier.
THREAD: Embroidery thread, aka floss, comes in small skeins
that are made up of six strands of thread entwined together. Each
colour has its own code, so you can follow patterns and get the
colours exactly as they’re intended to appear. There are quite a few
companies who make embroidery thread – all with their own code
systems – but the main one is DMC from France. This pattern uses
DMC codes as the colour system. If you already have thread from
another company, you can find converter tools online.>Head this way for the projectchannel your world-weariness
into this embroidered protest sign.
WORDS AND PROJECT RAYNA FAHEYPHOTOGRAPH BRI HAMMONDreally
cross stitching
Rayna's book Really Cross Stitch
is out now through Herbert
Press, an imprint of Bloomsbury.
As a special treat, we have three
copies (worth $19.99 each) to
give away, so head to frankie.
com.au/win to enter. Project
has been tweaked slightly to fit
frankie formatting.crafty