39:54

Learn About Embroidery

by Benjamin Boster

Rated
4.9
Type
talks
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
3.1k

In this episode of the I Can't Sleep Podcast, fall asleep learning about Embroidery. This request from one of the listeners of the podcast feels like the perfect amount of nearly-interesting content that holds your attention just long enough to drift off. Happy sleeping!

SleepHistoryEmbroideryArtCraftsmanshipMeditationSocial MediaRelaxationHistorical ContextCultural SignificanceCulturesVisual Social Medias

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster.

Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled,

Embroidery.

Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn.

Embroidery may also incorporate other materials,

Such as pearls,

Beads,

Quills,

And sequins.

In modern days,

Embroidery is usually seen on caps,

Hats,

Coats,

Overlays,

Blankets,

Dress shirts,

Denim,

Dresses,

Stockings,

Scarves,

And golf shirts.

Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn color.

It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.

Some of the basic techniques or stitches of the earliest embroidery are chain stitch,

Buttonhole or blanket stitch,

Running stitch,

Satin stitch,

And cross stitch.

Those stitches remain the fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today.

The process used to tailor,

Patch,

Mend,

And reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing techniques,

And the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery.

Indeed,

The remarkable stability of basic embroidery stitches has been noted.

It is a striking fact that in the development of embroidery,

There are no changes of materials or techniques which can be felt or interpreted as advances from a primitive to a later,

More refined stage.

On the other hand,

We often find in early works a technical accomplishment and high standard of craftsmanship rarely attained in later times.

The art of embroidery has been found worldwide,

And several early examples have been found.

Works in China have been dated to the Warring States period,

5th to 3rd century BC.

In a garment from migration period Sweden,

Roughly 300 to 700 AD,

The edges of bands of trimming are reinforced with running stitch,

Backstitch,

Stem stitch,

Tailor's buttonhole stitch,

And whip stitch.

But it is uncertain whether this work simply reinforced the seams or should be interpreted as decorative embroidery.

Depending on time,

Location,

And materials available,

Embroidery could be the domain of a few experts or a widespread popular technique.

This flexibility led to a variety of works from the royal to the mundane.

Examples of high-status items include elaborately embroidered clothing,

Religious objects,

And household items often were seen as a mark of wealth and status.

In medieval England,

Opus anglicanum,

A technique used by professional workshops and guilds in medieval England,

Was used to embellish textiles used in church rituals.

In 6th century England,

Some books,

Usually Bibles or other religious texts,

Had embroidered bindings.

The Bodleian Library in Oxford contains one presented to Queen Elizabeth I in 1805.

It also owns a copy of the Epistles of St.

Paul,

Whose cover was reputedly embroidered by the Queen.

In 18th century England and its colonies,

With the rise of the merchant class and the wider availability of luxury materials,

Rich embroideries began to appear in a secular context.

These embroideries took the form of items displayed in private homes of well-to-do citizens,

As opposed to a church or royal setting.

Even so,

The embroideries themselves may still have had religious themes.

Samplers employing fine silks were produced by the daughters of wealthy families.

Embroidery was a skill marking a girl's path into womanhood as well as conveying rank and social standing.

Embroidery was an important art and signifier of social status in the medieval Islamic world as well.

The 17th century Turkish traveler Evliya Selebi called it the craft of the two hands.

In cities such as Damascus,

Cairo,

And Istanbul,

Embroidery was visible on handkerchiefs,

Uniforms,

Flags,

Calligraphy,

Shoes,

Robes,

Tunics,

Horse trappings,

Slippers,

Sheaves,

Pouches,

Covers,

And even on leather belts.

Craftsmen embroidered items with gold and silver thread.

Embroidery cottage industries,

Some employing over 800 people,

Grew to supply these items.

In the 16th century,

In the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar,

His chronicler wrote in the famous Ayn-i-Akbari,

His Majesty Akbar pays much attention to various stuffs.

Hence,

Irani,

Ottoman,

And Mongolian articles of wear are in much abundance,

Especially textiles embroidered in the patterns of Naqshi,

Sadi,

Chikan,

Ari,

Sardozi,

Wasli,

Ghota,

And Kora.

The imperial workshops in the towns of Lahore,

Agra,

Fatehpur,

And Ahmedabad turn out many masterpieces of workmanship and fabrics in the figures and patterns,

Knots,

And variety of fashions which now prevail,

Astonish even the most experienced travelers.

Taste for the fine material has since become general,

And the drapery of embroidered fabrics used at feasts surpasses every description.

Conversely,

Embroidery is also a folk art using materials that were accessible to non-professionals.

Examples include Hardanger embroidery from Norway,

Mirschka from Ukraine,

Mount Melik embroidery from Ireland,

Naqshikantha from Bangladesh and West Bengal,

Hachichi from Peru,

And Brazilian embroidery.

Many techniques had a practical use,

Such as sashiko from Japan,

Which was used as a way to reinforce clothing.

While historically viewed as a pastime,

Activity,

Or hobby intended just for women,

Embroidery has often been used as a form of biography.

Women who were unable to access a formal education or at times writing implements were often taught embroidery and utilized it as a means of documenting their lives.

In terms of documenting the histories of marginalized groups,

Especially women of color both within the United States and around the world,

Embroidery is a means of studying the everyday lives of those whose lives largely went unstudied throughout much of history.

Embroidery can be classified according to what degree the design takes into account the nature of the base material and by the relationship of stitch placement to the fabric.

The main categories are free or surface embroidery,

Counted thread embroidery,

And needlepoint or canvas work.

In free or surface embroidery,

Designs are applied without regard to the weave or the underlying Examples include cruel and traditional Chinese and Japanese embroidery.

Counted thread embroidery patterns are created by making stitches over a predetermined number of threads in the foundation fabric.

Counted thread embroidery is more easily worked on an even weave foundation fabric,

Such as embroidery canvas,

Aida cloth,

Or specially woven cotton and Aida cloth,

Or specially woven cotton and linen fabrics.

Examples include cross stitch and some forms of blackwork embroidery.

While similar to counted thread in regards to technique,

In canvas work or needlepoint,

Threads are stitched through a fabric mesh to create a dense pattern that completely covers the foundation fabric.

Examples of canvas work include Bargello and Berlin wool work.

Embroidery can also be classified by the similarity of its appearance.

In drawn thread work and cut work,

The foundation fabric is deformed or cut away to create holes that are then embellished with embroidery,

Often with thread in the same color as the foundation fabric.

When created with white thread on white linen or cotton,

This work is collectively referred to as white work.

However,

White work can either be counted or free.

Hard anger embroidery is a counted embroidery and the designs are often geometric.

Conversely,

Styles such as broderie anglaise are similar to free embroidery,

With floral or abstract designs that are not dependent on the weave of the fabric.

A needle is the main stitching tool in embroidery and comes in various sizes and types.

The fabrics and yarns used in traditional embroidery vary from place to place.

Wool,

Linen,

And silk have been in use for thousands of years for both fabric and yarn.

Today embroidery thread is manufactured in cotton,

Rayon,

And novelty yarns as well as in traditional wool,

Linen,

And silk.

Ribbon embroidery uses narrow ribbon and silk or silk organza blend ribbon,

Most commonly to create floral motifs.

Surface embroidery techniques such as chain stitch and counting or laid work are the most economical of expensive yarns.

Couching is generally used for gold work.

Canvas work techniques in which large amounts of yarn are buried on the back of the work use more materials but provide a sturdier and more substantial finished textile.

In both canvas work and surface embroidery,

An embroidery hoop or frame can be used to stretch the material and ensure even stitching tension that prevents pattern distortion.

Modern canvas work tends to follow symmetrical counted stitching patterns with designs emerging from the repetition of one or just a few similar stitches in a variety of hues.

In contrast,

Many forms of surface embroidery make use of a wide range of stitching patterns in a single piece of work.

The development of machine embroidery and its mass production came about in stages during the industrial revolution.

The first embroidery machine was the hand embroidery machine,

Invented in France in 1832 by Josué Hallmann.

The next evolutionary step was the Schiffli embroidery machine,

The latter borrowed from the sewing machine and the Jacquard loom to fully automate its operation.

The manufacture of machine-made embroideries in St.

Gallen in eastern Switzerland flourished in the latter half of the 19th century.

Both St.

Gallen,

Switzerland and Plauen,

Germany were important centers for machine embroidery and embroidery machine development.

Many Swiss and Germans immigrated to Hudson County,

New Jersey in the early 20th century and developed a machine embroidery industry there.

Schiffli machines have continued to evolve and are still used for industrial scale embroidery.

Contemporary embroidery is stitched with a computerized embroidery machine using patterns digitized with embroidery software.

In machine embroidery,

Different types of fills add texture and design to the finished work.

Machine embroidery is used to add logos and monograms to business shirts or jackets,

Gifts and team apparel,

As well as to decorate household linens,

Draperies and decorator fabrics that mimic the elaborate hand embroidery of the past.

Machine embroidery is most typically done with rayon thread,

Although polyester thread can also be used.

Cotton thread,

On the other hand,

Is prone to breaking and should be avoided if under 30 weight.

There has also been a development in free hand machine embroidery.

New machines have been designed that allow for the user to create free motion embroidery,

Which has its place in textile arts,

Quilting,

Dressmaking,

Home furnishings and more.

Users can use the embroidery software to digitize the digital embroidery designs.

These digitized designs are then transferred to the embroidery machine with the help of a flash drive,

And then the embroidery machine embroiders the selected design onto the fabric.

Since the late 2010s,

There has been an exponential growth in the popularity of embroidery by hand.

As a result of visual social media such as Pinterest and Instagram,

Artists are able to share their work more extensively,

Which has inspired younger generations to pick up needle and threads.

Contemporary embroidery artists believe hand embroidery has grown in popularity as a result of an increasing need for relaxation and digitally disconnecting practices.

Modern hand embroidery,

As opposed to cross-stitching,

Is characterized by a more liberal approach,

Where stitches are more freely combined in unconventional ways to create various textures and designs.

In Greek mythology,

The goddess Athena is said to have passed down the art of embroidery,

Along with weaving,

To humans,

Leading to the famed competition between herself and the mortal Arachne.

A needlework sampler is a piece of embroidery or cross-stitching produced as a specimen of achievement,

Demonstration,

Or a test of skill and needlework.

It often includes the alphabet,

Figures,

Motifs,

Decorative borders,

And sometimes the name of the person who embroidered it,

And the date.

The word sampler is derived from the Latin exemplum,

Which means example.

The earliest sampler extant is a spot sampler,

I.

E.

One having randomly scattered motifs of the Nazca culture in Peru,

Formerly in the Museum of Primitive Art,

New York City.

It is estimated to date from circa 200 BCE to 300 BCE,

And is worked in cotton and wool pattern darning on a woven cotton ground.

It has 74 figures of birds,

Plants,

And mythological beings.

Coptic sampler fragments of silk on linen in double running stitch and pattern darning have been found in Egyptian burial grounds of 400 to 500 CE.

These are pattern samplers having designs based on early Christian symbols.

Samplers were known to be used by stitchers in Europe as early as the beginning of the 16th century,

Although none that early have been found.

A collection of 50 dichados samplers was listed in the 1509 Inventory of the Possessions of Queen Joanna,

Joanna I,

1479-1555,

Of Castile,

Spain.

They were described as stitchery and deshilado,

Drawn threadwork,

Some in silk and others in gold thread.

At the time of the Inventory they were in the care of her chamberlain Diego de Rivera and his son Alonso,

But they have all disappeared.

Early mentions of samplers in text include Skelton and Shakespeare.

The oldest surviving European samplers were made in the 16th and 17th centuries.

As there were few printed patterns available for needleworkers,

A stitched model was needed.

Whenever a needleworker saw a new and interesting example of a stitching pattern,

They would quickly sew a small sample of it onto a piece of cloth,

Their sampler.

The patterns were sewn randomly onto the fabric as a reference for future use,

And the needleworker would collect extra stitches and patterns throughout their lifetime.

The first printed pattern book,

Form oder Mode Buchlein,

Was published by Johann Schoensperger the Younger of Augsburg in 1523,

But it was not easily obtainable,

And a sampler was the most common form of reference available to many women.

Pattern books were widely copied and issued by other publishers.

Some are still available in reprint today.

The earliest English dated surviving sampler,

Housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,

Was made by Jane Bostock,

Who included her name and the date 1598 in the inscription.

Stitched with silk and metal thread on linen,

It has pictorial figures above with border and all-over patterns below.

The museum has two other samplers believed to date from the 16th century,

One from Germany with religious motifs and one from Italy with floral patterns and grotesques.

Both are worked in silk and linen.

A Dutch sampler dated 1585 survives in the Nederlands Openluchtmuseum in Arnhem.

A sampler in the Museum of London has two cutwork bands stitched in silk,

Gold,

And silver threads,

And 13 bands of reticella,

Whitework,

And white linen thread.

The fourth band from the top has the initials ER,

The Royal Arms of Queen Elizabeth I,

And the maker's name,

Susan Negabrie,

In bold letters.

It is believed to date before the Queen's death in 1603.

Because very few samplers from the 16th century have been found,

It is not possible to generalize about their style and appearance.

By the middle of the 17th century,

English,

Dutch,

And German samplers were being stitched on a narrow band of fabrics six to nine inches wide.

Hand-woven linen,

Bleached or unbleached,

Is the foundation material of early samplers.

As fabric was very expensive,

These samplers were totally covered with neat rows of stitches.

They were known as band samplers and valued highly,

Often being mentioned in wills and passed down through the generations.

These samplers were stitched using a variety of needlework styles,

Threads,

And ornament.

Many of them were exceedingly elaborate,

Incorporating subtly shaded colors,

Silk,

And metallic embroidery threads,

And using stitches such as Hungarian,

Florentine,

Tinned,

Cross,

Long-armed cross,

Two-sided Italian cross,

Rice,

Running,

Holbein,

Algerian eye,

And buttonhole stitches.

The samplers also incorporated small designs of flowers and animals and geometric designs stitched using as many as 20 different colors of thread.

Some were stitched partially or entirely in whitework.

Band samplers were more decorative than the utilitarian random motif spot samplers,

And stitchers finished them by adding their names,

Dates,

And patterns.

And stitchers finished them by adding their names,

Dates of completion,

And sometimes teacher or school names.

As the work of sampler making moved into schools in the late 17th and early 18th centuries,

Design styles changed.

Alphabets and verses were added along with pictorial elements such as architectural motifs,

Landscapes,

And large potted plants.

Educational themes included maps,

Multiplication tables,

Perpetual calendars,

And acrostic puzzles.

By the 18th century,

Samplers were a complete contrast to the scattered samples shown earlier on.

They became wider and more square,

Eventually with borders on all four sides.

Samplers were mainly school exercises during the 18th and 19th centuries,

And were almost entirely worked in cross-stitch.

Design styles were increasingly influenced by Berlin woolwork,

Which became popular worldwide due to the availability of patterns initially emanating from Berlin,

Germany.

This style of needlework reached its height of popularity between the 1830s and 1870s.

These samplers were stitched more to demonstrate knowledge than to preserve skill.

The stitching of samplers was believed to be a sign of virtue,

Achievement,

And industry,

And girls were taught the art from a young age.

Berlin woolwork designs had naturalistic shading and more depth of perspective than the flat,

Two-dimensional objects on traditional needlework.

By mid-19th century,

Adult needleworkers were devising long and narrow stitch samplers,

Having geometric patterns done in woolwork.

The art needlework movement and elimination of samplers from female education brought about the decline in traditional sampler making that continued into the 20th century.

Samplers are widely stitched today,

Some using kits purchased from needlework shops,

Some from chartpacks,

And many from patterns available on the internet or through email from designers.

Patterns range from simple,

Using only one stitch,

To complex,

Using 15 to 20 and more stitches.

Designs range widely in style,

From accurate reproductions of historic pieces,

To much more contemporary and modern styles,

Including subversive needlework.

Popular topics include designs commemorating births and marriages,

Family trees,

And mottos of all kinds.

Map charts are widely available in English-speaking countries and Denmark.

These are often pictorial maps of local areas,

Whole countries,

Or even the imaginary realms of Tolkien's Middle-earth.

Many sampler reproductions are also available,

Copying colors and imperfect stitches from the originals.

The word sampler is sometimes inaccurately applied to any piece of needlework meant for display.

However,

The genre may broadly be said to include any needlework in sampler style,

With or without lettering.

Materials used include ida cloth,

Evenweave,

And linen fabrics in cotton,

Linen,

And man-made materials,

Combined in more and more ways,

And fibers from cotton floss to silk,

Rayon,

Viscose,

And metallic.

Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery,

In which x-shaped stitches in a tiled raster-like pattern are used to form a picture.

The stitcher counts the threads on a piece of evenweave fabric,

Such as linen,

In each direction so that the stitches are of uniform size and appearance.

This form of cross-stitch is also called counted cross-stitch,

In order to distinguish it from other forms of cross-stitch.

Sometimes cross-stitch is done on designs printed on the fabric,

Stamped cross-stitch.

The stitcher simply stitches over the printed pattern.

Cross-stitch is often executed on easily countable fabric called ida cloth,

Whose weaves create a plainly visible grid of squares,

With holes for the needle at each corner.

Fabrics used in cross-stitch include linen,

Ida cloth,

And mixed-content fabrics called evenweave.

Such as joblin.

All cross-stitch fabrics are technically evenweave,

As the term refers to the fact that the fabric is woven to make sure that there are the same number of threads per inch in both the warp and the weft,

I.

E.

Vertically and horizontally.

Fabrics are categorized by threads per inch,

Referred to as count,

Which can range from 11 to 40 count.

Counted cross-stitch projects are worked from a gridded pattern called a chart,

And can be used on any count fabric.

The count of the fabric and the number of threads per stitch determine the size of the finished stitching.

For example,

If a given design is stitched on a 28 count cross-stitch fabric,

With each cross worked over two threads,

The finished stitching size is the same as it would be on a 14 count ida cloth fabric,

With each cross worked over one square.

These methods are referred to as 2 over 2,

Two embroidery threads used to stitch over two fabric threads,

And 1 over 1,

One embroidery thread used to stitch over one fabric thread or square,

Respectively.

There are different methods of stitching a pattern,

Including the cross-country method,

Where one color is stitched at a time,

Or the parking method,

Where one block of fabric is stitched at a time,

And the end of the thread is parked at the next point the same color occurs in the pattern.

Cross-stitch can be found all over the world since the Middle Ages.

Many folk museums show examples of clothing decorated with cross-stitch,

Especially from continental Europe and Asia.

The cross-stitch samplers called that because it was generally stitched by a young girl to learn how to stitch and to record alphabet and other patterns to be used in her household sewing.

These samples of her stitching could be referred back to over the years.

Often motifs and initials were stitched on household items to identify their owner or simply to decorate the otherwise plain cloth.

The earliest known cross-stitch sampler made in the United States is currently housed at Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth,

Massachusetts.

The sampler was created by Laura Standish,

Daughter of Captain Miles Standish and pioneer of the Leviathan stitch circa 1653.

Traditionally,

Cross-stitch was used to embellish items like household linens,

Tablecloths,

Dishcloths,

And doilies,

Only a small portion of which would actually be embroidered,

Such as a border.

Although there are many cross-stitchers who still employ it in this fashion,

It is now increasingly popular to work the pattern on pieces of fabric and hang them on the wall for decoration.

Cross-stitch is also often used to make greeting cards,

Pillow tops,

Or as inserts for box tops,

Coasters,

And trivets.

Multicolored,

Shaded,

Painting-like patterns as we know them today are a fairly modern development,

Deriving from similar shaded patterns of Berlin wool work of the mid-19th century.

Besides designs created expressly for cross-stitch,

There are software programs that convert a photograph or a fine art image into a chart suitable for stitching.

One example of this is the cross-stitched reproduction of the Sistine Chapel,

Charted and stitched by Joanna Lopianowski Roberts.

There are many cross-stitching guilds and groups across the United States and Europe,

Which offer classes,

Collaborate on large projects,

Stitch for charity,

And provide other ways for local cross-stitchers to get to know one another.

Individually-owned local needlework shops,

L&S,

Often have stitching nights at their shops or host weekend stitching retreats.

Today,

Cotton floss is the most common embroidery thread.

It is a thread made of mercerized cotton composed of six strands that are only loosely twisted together and easily separable.

While there are other manufacturers,

The two most commonly used and oldest brands are DMC and Anchor,

Both of which have been manufacturing embroidery floss since the 1800s.

Other materials used are pearl cotton,

Danish flower thread,

Silk,

And rayon.

Different wool threads,

Metallic threads,

Or other novelty threads are also used,

Sometimes for the whole work,

But often for accents and embellishments.

Hand-dyed cross-stitch floss is created just as the name implies.

It is dyed by hand.

Because of this,

There are variations in the amount of color throughout the thread.

Some variations can be subtle,

While some can be a huge contrast.

Some also have more than one color per thread.

Cross-stitch is widely used in traditional Palestinian dressmaking.

Palestinian cross-stitch is called tatres.

In 2021,

Tatres was added to the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The cross-stitch can be executed partially,

Such as in quarter,

Half,

And three-quarter stitches.

A single straight stitch,

Done in the form of backstitching,

Is often used as an outline to add detail or definition.

There are many stitches which are related structurally to cross-stitch.

The best-known are Italian cross-stitch,

Long-armed cross-stitch,

And Montenegrin stitch.

Italian cross-stitch and Montenegrin stitch are reversible,

Meaning the work looks the same on both sides.

These styles have a slightly different look than ordinary cross-stitch.

These more difficult stitches are rarely used in mainstream embroidery.

But they are still used to create historical pieces of embroidery or by the creative and adventurous stitcher.

The double cross-stitch,

Also known as a Leviathan stitch or Smyrna cross-stitch,

Combines a cross-stitch with an upright cross-stitch.

Berlin wool work and similar petite point stitchery resembles the heavily shaded,

Opulent style of cross-stitch,

And sometimes also use charted patterns on paper.

Cross-stitch is often combined with other popular forms of embroidery,

Such as hard anger embroidery or blackwork embroidery.

Cross-stitch may also be combined with other work,

Such as canvas work or drawn thread work.

Beadwork and other embellishments such as paillettes,

Charms,

Small buttons,

And specialty threads of various kinds may also be used.

Cross-stitch can often be used in needlepoint.

Cross-stitch has become increasingly popular with the younger generations of Europe in recent years.

Retailers such as John Lewis experienced a 17% rise in sales of haberdashery products between 2009 and 2010.

Hobbycraft,

A chain of stores selling craft supplies,

Also enjoyed an 11% increase in sales over the year to February 22,

2009.

Knitting and cross-stitching have become more popular hobbies for a younger market in contrast to its traditional reputation as a hobby for retirees.

At Clothes Show Live 2010,

There was a new area called Snitch promoting modern sewing,

Knitting,

And embroidery.

In a department from the traditional designs associated with cross-stitch,

There is a current trend for more post-modern or tongue-in-cheek designs featuring retro images or contemporary sayings.

It is linked to a concept known as subversive cross-stitch,

Which involves more risqué designs,

Often fusing the traditional sampler style with sayings designed to shock or be incongruous with the old-fashioned image of cross-stitch.

Stitching designs on other materials can be accomplished by using waste canvas.

This is a temporary gridded canvas similar to regular canvas used for embroidery that is held together by a water-soluble glue,

Which is removed after completion of stitch design.

Other crafters have taken to cross-stitching on all manner of gridded objects as well,

Including old kitchen strainers or chain-link fences.

While cross-stitch is traditionally a women's craft,

It is growing in popularity among men.

In the 21st century,

An emphasis on feminist design has emerged with cross-stitch communities.

Some cross-stitchers have commented on the way that the practice of embroidery makes them feel connected to the women who practiced it before them.

There is a push for all embroidery,

Including cross-stitch,

To be respected as a significant art form.

The development of computer technology has also affected such a seemingly conservative craft as cross-stitch.

With the help of computer visualization algorithms,

It is now possible to create embroidery designs using a photograph or any other picture.

Visualization using a drawing on a graphical grid,

Representing colors and or symbols,

Representing colors and or symbols,

Which gives the user an indication of the possible use of colors,

The position of those colors,

And the type of stitch used,

Such as full cross or quarter stitch.

An increasingly popular activity for cross-stitchers is to watch and make YouTube videos detailing their hobby.

Flosstubers,

As they are known,

Typically cover WIPs,

Work-in-progress,

FOs,

Finished objects,

And haul,

New patterns,

Thread,

And fabric,

As well as cross-stitching accessories,

Such as needle minders.

Other accessories include,

But are not limited to,

Floss organizers,

Thread conditioner,

Pin cushions,

Ida cloth or plastic canvas,

And embroidery needles.

Meet your Teacher

Benjamin BosterPleasant Grove, UT, USA

4.9 (56)

Recent Reviews

Jenni

June 22, 2024

When you started talking about stitches I was out!! 🤭Thank you ☺️

Beth

February 27, 2024

Super boring! Perfect to lull me to sleep. Thank you!! 😂

More from Benjamin Boster

Loading...

Related Meditations

Loading...

Related Teachers

Loading...
© 2026 Benjamin Boster. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

How can we help?

Sleep better
Reduce stress or anxiety
Meditation
Spirituality
Something else