Probably the first handicraft style that I have ever learned is cross stitching, a popular form of embroidery in which X-shaped stitches are used in order to create an image. In this kind of embroidery, each stitch is counted so that the image will look realistic and balanced. It's one of the most popular embroidery styles in the world.
I first learned about this craft in third grade, when our teacher asked us to do a cross stitch project for the class. Since my mom has been doing this for the longest time, it wasn't so difficult to learn how to do it.
To create a picture, most shops nowadays sell cross-stitch designs. The colors of the threads are specified (each color comes with a standard number), while the "blueprint" of the picture indicates how many X's are made in every direction. A stitcher will then have to mark these little squares to know what stitches he/she has already made. A special kind of cloth, one with stitching holes already in them, is used for this.
At first, it won't seem like you are putting any kind of picture, but eventually, you'll see that a picture is already forming. This kind of "magic" amazed me as a child when my mother did it. The picture is then framed for use or manipulated in some other way.
Cotton floss is the most typical kind of thread used in cross-stitching, although some prefer to use materials such as wool and flower threads.
Today, cross-stitch designs are typically used for display, much like sewn paintings. Others, meanwhile, use cross-stitched cloth as table cloths, bed sheets, and the like.
If you are interested in cross-stitching, you will find that there are a lot of cross-stitching guilds located across America and Europe. These guilds typically meet together to work on some very large designs for charity or probably for hobby purposes. Go ahead and join one.
