Stressed, bored or in a murderous rage? Calm your frazzled nerves by indulging in a little subversive cross-stitching. Intrigued? Read on…
Occasionally you stumble across a little gem of a book that makes you smile every time you think about it. Let’s hear a drum roll for Subversive Cross Stitch. You probably haven’t given cross stitching much thought since the little kit you got in your Christmas stocking when you were nine or the infrequent times you’ve glanced at the decidedly twee cross stitched cushions in funny old shops. You certainly never considered yourself the kinda gal to stitch the alphabet in pretty colours to put up in a frame on the wall.
Well, perhaps you will reconsider when you’ve dipped into Julie Jackson’s little book of mirth. She’s taken the ever so proper medium of needlework and turned it ever so sneakily on its head. Move over the saintly maxims and make room for some real pithiness and downright rudeness – we love it. “Candy Ass”, “Babies Suck”, “Whatever”, “WTF?” give you a flavour of what you’ll find.
And remember, cross-stitch is nice and easy, thus making it wonderfully therapeutic for beginners – it’s not one of those crafts that will have you flinging mangled results across the room in rage. Its therapeutic nature combined with the satisfaction of stitching such rude little lettering is a fantastic way to combat stress, boredom and, heaven forbid, murderous rage. The results are quick too. You’ll have your efforts framed and up on the wall in time for tea, when you can sit back and enjoy watching your guests splutter over their scones and jam. What could be better?!
Subversive Cross Stitch by American author Julie Jackson is published by Chronicle. Check out www.subversivecrossstitch.com where you’ll find how-to info on cross-stitching, the author’s blog and more.
