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Here are the links to this month's comps and giveaways. Enter now for the chance to win some fabulous prizes!

If you've stitched Margaret Sherry's adorable Make a wish... mouse from issue 216, you're probably wondering where to get the mount from. Never fear, you can get it here.

Don't forget to send us a pictureof your finished mouse or mice!

Bee Listy is a talented cross stitch designer fromo the USA. She specialises in alternative cross stitch, particularly focussing on political themes and portraits, and is one of the stars of our Urban Cross Stitching feature in issue 216. Below is her full interview. Watch this space for full transcripts of our interviews with our other alternative stitching stars, Phil Davison and Jamie Chalmers, coming soon.

Bee Listy is a cross stitch designer from the USA

What do you find so appealing about cross stitch?
I’m one of those people who has a mind that never stops working—the only break I get from the constant stream of thoughts, worries, and questions is stitching. Reading a pattern and counting out those tiny xes quiets my mind. It’s almost meditative.

How did you first get involved in cross stitch?
My paternal grandfather Walter was a stitcher – cross-stitch, needlepoint, crewel work. My mom also used to stitch, and I grew up in a house with a lot of hand-stitched work displayed in frames, or on linens. After I finished graduate school, I was working a very demanding job, and needed something to occupy my free time. I purchased one of Julie Jackson’s Subversive Cross-Stitch kits (Irony is Not Dead). I completed it, and then realized I could make my own patterns. The first pattern I ever made turned out pretty badly! The letters were crooked, the crossbones on the skull were messy. I experimented a lot with graph paper, a scanner, and then I started using PC Stitch, but I still hand draw things sometimes. But my grandpa and mom really encouraged me to keep stitching.

Were you interested in needlecraft when you were growing up, or was it an interest that developed later in life?
I had a latch hook kit once, but I don’t recall stitching at all as a kid. I started about six years ago.

What do you think the art form can offer people? How would you tempt someone who has never stitched before to pick up the needle?
I know that everyone gets different satisfaction from different types of art and craft. While other people may experience the relaxing meditative state I experience when I’m really in the groove, it may be different for other people. The handful of people who I know who became interested in stitching through me basically saw that they could create something original. I am lucky to be part of a big DIY community, and so rather than buying a gift, I know a lot of people who would rather hand make something, or purchase something handmade. There is a lot of satisfaction in seeing a project through conception to completion.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
The bulk of work I’ve been doing in the last couple of years is portraiture. Outside of commissioned work, I choose subjects who have influenced my life. For instance, I just finished a small portrait of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel—I chose them because their music made an indelible mark on me. I grew up listening to them with my mom and even now that I’m an adult, when we’re together we listen to their greatest hits album and sing at the top of our lungs together. I’ve done portraits of politicians, world leaders, authors, activists, celebrities – it really just depends on who I’m feeling inspired by at the time. The list of people I want to stitch is so long, I’ll never complete them all because I’m always thinking of new people, or getting different requests from people. I get suggestions from my partner, as well as friends and members of my family. I stitched Oprah Winfrey after it was suggested to me by an eight-year-old member of my family, David Michael.

What other needlecraft artists influence your work?
I wouldn’t say I’m influenced by other artists, but there are a handful of people I really appreciate for what they’re doing to create community for stitchers. I have been most directly influenced by Julie Jackson’s work because I do some subversive stitching of my own, but one of my favourite stitchers right now is Jamie Chalmers (aka Mr X Stitch). Check out this thread on crafter.org.

Also, I love Rayna and Johanna from Radical Cross Stitch. Their work is absolutely outstanding.

How do more traditional stitchers react to your work?
I don’t know! I mostly get feedback from other non-traditional stitchers. I get a lot of love from non-needle working crafters though. I sew in coffee shops around Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, USA where I live, and I get a lot of attention from knitters who are very impressed with my work.

Bee's grandmother and gradfather's stitched portrait

You’ve stitched a lot of portraits, from Bea Arthur to Benazir Bhutto. Are there any that have a particular special place in your heart or special significance to you?
Most definitely. The last Christmas gift I ever gave my grandfather Walter was a stitched portrait of him with my grandmother, taken from a portrait of them from May 1943. I worked on it every free moment of the day for three weeks to finish it in time for a Christmas gift for the two of them. He was the stitcher so he was very impressed with the work, and despite being very ill and tired, he asked me a number of technical questions about the work, and was impressed with how orderly the back of the piece looked. The second most beloved would be the piece I did of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done with the largest colour palette (more than 70 colours).

Who would you like to immortalise in cross stitch next?
The list is so long—I’m on an author kick right now, so maybe Jeannette Winterson? I’ve also being feeling strongly toward politics – Aung San Suu Kyi is someone I’ve made a pattern of, but haven’t stitched yet. I’ve considered doing a series of dictators, but I’m not sure I could stare at their faces long enough to actually stitch them. I’ll likely do Michelle Obama soon. She’s an icon in so many different ways right now, so I would like to find a picture that shows her brains, her strength, and her femininity. 

What are your most popular designs?
Portrait patterns of Johnny Cash. I did a portrait of him when I first started doing portraits, and it’s not technically great and had a small palette – but the owner loves it.

On your blog you talk about your craft swap. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
I’m a member of Craftster.org, which often has member-organized swaps. I recently participated in a LGBT/allies themed swap. I kept meaning to showcase the different items from the swap on Queercraft, but haven’t done it yet.

Who do you think will be the big names in cross stitch design in the next few years?
Well, there are a lot of people very active right now, and I hope it keeps growing. The thing that technology is doing for cross-stitch is making it easier for people to come up with their own patterns. I think that notoriety should be going to people who are pushing the boundaries of the craft – I think that Jamie Chalmers is working really hard to produce patterns that appeal to men, a niche that really needs to be filled. Bee Franck is doing some really beautiful black work mixed with her popular culture references. Rayna Fahey and Johanna from Radical Cross Stitch make some stuff that focuses on radical politics of feminism and ecology.

What do you think the role of needlecraft is in the 21st century?
I think that we’re riding a wave of DIY right now that I really hope continues: people are creating funny work, political work, and still creating traditional work—but the spin that some artists are putting on their work is really interesting. There are a handful of people who are taking inspiration from things on the internet (Jamie Chalmers has a series of spam email cross-stitches), and we’re also seeing other popular culture things represented in stitches, like art from recently released records.

Thoroughly modern designs are Bee's speciality

Do you think embroidery in general, and particularly cross stitch, are becoming more popular and, for want of a better phrase, socially acceptable?
I was recently recognised as the woman who sews on the train. I often block off sections of pieces so that I can fill in areas away from the pattern – and this is something I often do on my morning commute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The number of people who show interest in learning more, or commissioning a piece grows all the time, so I’m hoping to see more people stitching and appreciating beautiful needlework. In the USA, the huge return to DIY crafts really seemed to take off after the 9/11/01 attacks – some sociologists have said that people felt like they needed to return to the home, even figuratively, and by creating new original works (whether it be knitting, crochet, baking, needlecraft), people are feeling more organically connected to their surroundings rather than just buying gifts or décor at a big box store like Ikea. Owning original artwork is possible for people because so many people are creating original art.

Do you think we’ll see a continued growth in ‘alternative’ samplers and designs in cross stitch?
Absolutely. You know, I’d be making more patterns if I had a bigger desk to work on! I find it hard to just sit at the computer and create an awesome pattern – I like to stretch out with the sketchpad, then play on the computer. I need a better computer too- one of those tablet styles, and a big wide desk to work on. I live in a small, crowded flat.

What event in your own life would you most like to record in stitches?
This is the hardest question I’ve ever been asked in the handful of interviews I’ve done. Would I choose a jubilant moment, like when I finished my masters degree? Or a heartbreaking moment that I’m grateful to have moved through? There are so many events that I want to happen but haven’t occurred yet. I think I’d like to do a sampler that would record all of my various jobs, or the radical activist groups that I’ve been a part of. There is a photo somewhere of me as a 10-year-old child holding my fat orange cat that would be great to stitch – a perfect moment with a beloved pet, when life was very simple. I did stitch a portrait of myself which I gave to my mother for her birthday a couple of years ago. It was very strange to stare at my own face for a couple of weeks.

If you could choose one cross stitch sampler saying to sum up your attitude to life, what would it be?
I did a small sampler of it already – if I can bake a cake, I can build a bomb. I don’t advocate violence, but I believe that the power of people to rise up is important.

You do a lot of bespoke work. How does one go about getting a design commissioned from you?
It’s surprisingly easy – send me an email, a photo or an idea, and we go from there. I like to work with the commissioner to choose a good photo – what is the light like? Are there a lot of details, a broad variety of colours? I then spend a lot of time cleaning up the photo using Adobe Photoshop before I start working on the pattern in PC Stitch. PC Stitch is a wonderful program, but it doesn’t have it’s own artistic eye. I like to change things – substitute colours that the computer suggests for more vibrant colours that I like better, or think will look better. You can get a lot more depth from a variety of grey than just using flat black, DMC 666 can look too orangey if it’s next to the wrong colour, and things like that. The satisfaction of presenting a finished commissioned piece to someone is wonderful. My partner’s mother commissioned a piece from me last year as a gift for someone, and I had the joy of hearing about all of the people who were touched by the simple beauty of both the artwork, and the gesture of the actual gift.

Thank you so much for thinking of me!  This has been a pleasure.

Did you miss our James Dean chart in issue 214? Download it here now and start stitching the original rebel without a cause. We're dying to see your pics, and don't forget that the first person to send in a photo of their finished James Dean wins a gorgeous Zweigart prize.... so get snapping!

UPDATE:

Congratulations to speedy stitcher Nats Todd: her James Dean has won her some great Zweigart prizes!

A heart vs head dilemma for Mr X Stitch.

We had a very positive response to the first blog from 'manbroiderer' Jamie Chalmers, aka Mr X Stitch, back in April. He's an advocate of all things cool and modern in the cross stitch universe - check out his latest finds on his website.

We're pleased that he's come back to share some more of his cross stitching adventures. Don't forget to email us and tell us what you think - Jamie and the team would love to hear from you.

And don't miss issue 213, out on  Thursday 18th June,  in which Jamie is one of the stars of our urban cross stitch feature. Let us know what you think of alternative cross stitch, too!

“It wasn’t long into my stitching adventures that I realised I needed to get a grip.
I’d completed three or four small kits, and one larger piece, and had several bags of threads lying around tormenting me. They had the potential to be used for something else, but without being arranged in some kind of order, I felt stifled about what to do with them.

Something had to be done!

So I bought my first bobbin box, and distinctly remember spending one Saturday night in front of the telly, winding bobbins up and arranging them in numeric order. And boy, did I feel good by the time I finished! My little friends stared up at me from their spaces and invited me to engage with them in the joy of stitching. Which I duly did.

Time passed and the number of stitcheries increased. And so did the number of thread colours. So I got a second box. And then a third. And now I operate a four box strategy..! That’s a lot of threads…

Herein lies my dilemma – do I stick to keeping my bobbins in number order, or do I throw caution to the wind and arrange them by colour and shade?

The obsessive-compulsive part of me puts up a strong argument, stating that the thread companies wouldn’t provide number codes for the threads if they weren’t meant to be organised thusly, and it is this argument I have followed so far.

But the creative side of me sees pictures of people’s bobbin boxes, where the bobbins are arranged by colour, and thinks it would be wonderful to be able to run my finger over all the different colours and pick whichever shade takes my fancy.
But then (says my head) if you’re following a pattern, you need to find the right threads according to number… But then that (says my heart) limits your capacity to make creative changes to the pattern, changes that would come from choosing a slightly different shade to the prescribed pattern…

And on and on… The dilemma of head versus heart continues to this day.

Part of me wants to spend a day organising the bobbins by colour, so that I can then re-organise them by number at a later date. But that part of me doesn’t get out much.

And don’t even ask me about people who use the “putting the thread in a plastic wallet with a hole in the corner” system – I’ll keep you here all day!

Faithful readers, help me move forward with my quandary. Tell me your top tips and what works for you. And I’ll share the best ideas with you the next time we meet."

Top designer Emily Peacock has taken some time out from her hectic schedule to reveal how she overcame a kit-related mishap.

Emily suffered for her art

Emily writes:

"I’m in agony. Having packed kits for the last month the middle finger of my right hand – my ‘winding finger’ – has quit without giving notice.

For me, so much lies in the presentation of my kits. I get secret pleasure from seeing my wools lying inside the pack in neat rows, twisted into bright, fat, little caterpillars. The method for achieving such greatness lies in the folding of workable lengths of wool, inserting my winding finger in the loop and making small circular motions until the desired tension is achieved... not too tight you understand, nor limp and apologetic. Just so. The ends are then inserted through the loop, the tension is adjusted evenly and there you have it: Perrr-fection.

I rub my finger feeling sorry for myself and wonder how on Earth I can continue working. Rest, after all, is the cure for such repetitive strain injuries.
“We could use a pencil instead of your finger,” says my youngest daughter.
“Good idea, but it would take too long.”
“Could you use your other hand?” says my eldest.
“The same might happen – and these days I am trying to learn from my mistakes.”
“What if I take one end,” jokes my husband, “and run around you in circles, in a sort of homage to a May Pole dance?”
Ordinarily I would have laughed, but I am not to be amused. They back off.

I grump into the kitchen to cook dinner and soon various sounds emanate from the living room. A snap is followed by a silence, a whirring noise and the sound of two girls giggling.

Hubby emerges pink-faced and beaming into the kitchen. “I have it,” he says.
He holds up a contraption that has clearly taken inspiration from Wallace and Gromit. The hook of a coat hanger has been jammed into the front of a cordless drill, which he proudly demonstrates with a whirr.
“I call it The Peacock 3000– it’ll be patented as a wool-winder, but you could probably also whip up a mean omelette.”

The finger is now beginning its recovery process and I am one happy wool-winding bunny. I look at my husband with a new-found curiosity and wonder where all this ingenuity could take us... Hmmmm. Something for catching spiders and opening jars perhaps... "

• For more of Emily's sumptuous designs, visit her website.
  

The illustrated mount to go with the Bold Blooms kit is now available to download. It's been designed to exactly fit your stitched design, so simply print it out and trim with some scissors or a craft knife and slot into your frame. But make sure when you print that you don't have a box ticked that says 'scale to fit' - this will overstretch the mount and it won't fit your finished stitching.

And we're dying to see photos, so don't forget to email us your pics!

Congratulations to Leanne Deacon from Tunbridge Wells, who was the first to stitch our Stig design in issue 213. She's won a lovely parcel of Zweigart goodies for her speedy stitching!



Issue 214 is on the shelves at the moment with the gorgeous James Dean as our Stitch A Star celeb. Get stitching now and send in your photos for a chance to scoop the Zweigart prize!

We've just uploaded the extra mini dandelion motif to go with Lesley Teare's gorgeous window blind design in issue 213. It's a super-quick stitch – perfect for a little gift tag or emergency card! 

Do you Twitter? Do you like to tweet about your stitching? Now you can follow CrossStitcher on Twitter and find out what we're up to on a day-to-day basis. Because someone else already had our name (!) we are known around those parts as XStitchmagazine.

You'll find us by typing XStitchmagazine into the Search box, or click here and start following us today.

Download our fabulous Stig chart from issue 213 here now.

We've already had some brilliant photos of your Stigs – thanks to everyone who's sent in letters and emails! We knew we had to add him to our collection eventually.

Keep sending in your requests for future Stars. I'm just waiting for someone to suggest the delicious Hugh Dancy to give me an excuse to stare at his photo all day while I chart him!

Here's a question... have you ever tried cross stitching your own buttons? Apparently it's easier than you might think! Erika Kern over at CraftStylish has a fabulous tried and tested method for embroidering on ordinary fabric and covering plain buttons for embellishing your clothes. She's made hers using freehand embroidery, but it would be easier still to cross stitch a little motif instead. In fact, you'll be pleased to hear that we've got a project along those lines coming up in one of the next issues - keep your eyes skinned for more details.

We also spotted this post by Jennifer Stern on the CraftStylish site - how to cross stitch on something you've knitted! Now there's a challenge for your bank holiday...!

If you've already got your copy of issue 214 you'll have seen our latest My Life In Stitches interview with textile designer Amy Senogles. Read on for the uncut version!




What first attracted you to working with textiles?
Since being very young, I’ve loved sewing and making things. I’d always collected fabrics and embroideries and the natural progression for me was to combine them into my work. I think the tactile quality of textiles is what attracts me the most.

Tell us a bit about the sort of work you do.
I create garments, accessories and interior products using antique textiles. I combine old stitches with my own embroidery in a patchwork of old and new. I am very interested in the ethics of fashion, and am very keen to re-use and re-cycle wherever possible.

What kind of embroidery techniques do you use most? Do you do a lot of hand embroidery or do you prefer a machine?
Hand embroidery features most within my work. I love the irregularity of hand stitch, and the fact that the hand of the maker is so evident in the work. I think that in this era of mass-production, it is refreshing to see labour intensive, one-off pieces of work.
My current work features mostly cross stitch combined with some floral motifs.

Do you have any tips or advice for cross stitchers who might like to branch out into more advanced embroidery?
My main piece of advice is not to be afraid of making mistakes. I like to think of everything I’ve ever made as teaching me something, whether it was a success or not. You may even find that a ‘mistake’ can inspire you to create something you’d never have thought of before.

Are you aiming for a particular ‘look’ or ‘image’ for your collection or does each piece you create have a unique story behind it?
When I produce work, I hope that my collection has an overall style but that each piece is unique. Everything I make starts with a section of an old embroidery or piece of fabric, and it evolves from there. The constraints are set by the size and colours of the fabric, but I aim to translate my own style into the product it develops into.

Where do you find your inspiration?
I am influenced by the fabrics that I collect, as they often dictate what I will make, or how I will make it. I found designers such as Jessica Ogden and Russell Sage very inspiring whilst studying for my degree, as I was very interested in re-using fabrics and exploring the intrinsic qualities of textiles. I also think the conceptual designs of Maison Martin Margiela are wonderful, and challenge perceptions of conventional fashion.

What’s been the proudest moment of your career so far?
Being selected by Texprint as one of their star designers for 2008 was the best part of my career to date. I was able to show my work in Paris at Premiere Vision and meet some very influential and inspirational people from both the fashion and the textile world.

What piece of craft equipment couldn’t you live without for your work?
It may seem simplistic, but I find I couldn’t live without a needle and some embroidery thread. I do use more complex equipment, but a needle and thread can travel with you, can be used more or less anywhere in the world, and can be picked up and put down whenever you feel like sewing. I travelled around quite a lot last year, and having my sewing with me meant I always had something to keep me busy on long journeys.

Where would you like to see your designing going in the future? Have you got any special ambitions or plans?
I’m working on developing interior products at the moment and hope to continue working to commission and exhibiting at craft fairs and events. I would love to collaborate with a fashion designer and see my designs translated into a collection of garments.

How important do you think needlework is as a skill? Does it have a role in the 21st century? How do you think we can give it a trendier image?
I think that given the current economic climate, we will see a resurgence of needlework, as people have to make their clothes last longer, and there may even be a shift away from cheap, disposable fashion. Consumers are becoming disillusioned with mass-produced garments and interior products and are increasingly seeking bespoke alternatives. I strongly feel that not only will people be interested in buying such products, but that they will also be keen to rediscover ‘lost’ skills to use for themselves.

What cross stitch sampler saying sums up your attitude to life?
I’d take inspiration from a reissued wartime poster I saw recently that said ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. It sums up my determination to succeed and that reminds me of the goals I hope to achieve regardless of what gets in the way.

Do you have any special projects/events coming up?
I will be launching my website around the end of May, and am currently applying to exhibit at the Great Northern Contemporary Crafts Fair in Manchester this October.

We've had a few calls in the office from subscribers who haven't received issue 214. Due to circumstances beyond our control, there was a slight delay in mailing these issues, so yours might be slightly late in getting to you. They should be on their way to you right now and in the shops by Saturday.

Sorry for this slight hold-up, we've only just received our office copies, and we're sure you'll think that this issue is worth the wait!