Customer Reviews

Subversive Cross Stitch

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I like the idea of Subversive Cross Stitch. However, there's nothing in here that you couldn't do with a generic alphabet and motif pattern book.

I have been cross stitching for 25 years and samplers have been my main interest for most of them. I mostly wanted this book for my library as it is certainly not your typical sampler. When I got the book I browsed through it and found the cross stitching ordinary. Of course the 'interest' is that the sayings are shocking on these sweet little designs. I wasn't so impressed. However, all 4 of my kids who were home for Christmas thought this book was HILARIOUS and my daughter needed to know -immediately- how to cross stitch! A month later my book is well used and real hit at my house!!

As a cross-stitch nerd, I freaked out when I came across a review of this book in my latest issue of BUST magazine. Sick of stitching a bajillion bunnies and teddy bears on bibs for my friends' babies, I was pleasantly surprised to find one of Julie's cute designs entitled "Babies Suck". If you are ready to stitch some fun, snarky sayings for yourself and your friends, this book is for you.

I love to Cross Stitch, but the cutesy patterns you find in most stitch shops and craft stores just aren't my thing. Wasn't I lucky to stumble upon ths awesome book where my homey side can meet my inner b*tch. My workmates are fighting over this one. All I can say is if you stitch- - get it!!! Instructions are included and they are terrific.

All the women in my family are very creative and artsy, every single one of them, except me, I tried every craft that looked remotely interesting and not a one panned out for me. And then I found this book, and I fell in love. My grandmother had done cross stitching for as long as I can remember, but died before she had a chance to teach me. So now I finally have my craft, its perfect for a tattooed domestic goddess such as myself!

Hats off (caps, visors, tiaras...WHATEVER!) for this delightfully fun and geniously creative book based on what can be an otherwise vanilla (yawn!) branch of the crafty arts. Ms. Jackson (is that Julie, if you're nasty?) has turned her efforts at recreational therapy into a springboard for others who are disgruntled with our world full of pink bunnies and fuzzy teddy bears. Let your creative juices flow after becoming inspired by this new approach to an age old means of artistic expression. I'll be picking up a needle & floss for the first time in almost 30 years thanks to my delving into this lovely little book. FUN, FUN, and more FUN!

I'm a stitcher. I belong to the Embroidery Guild, and I've viewed beautiful and very ornate cross stitch samplers. I think I must be a little off base. I saw the Subversive cross stitch link off of Bust magazine, and clicked on it. I knew I had found my calling. Then I discovered the link to the book. I promptly ordered it.
What an amazing cross stitch book. Probably one of the best book of charts I own. Certainly they make the most sense. When you've worked all day and been slave-driven, do you really want to work on something ornate and complicated, at home, by a very promiment French cross stitch designer, or do you just want to go home and scream some of the sentiments in the book, while...playing the Clash? Truely, you CAN play the remastered Clash CD's, and make a cross stitch design from this book, at the same time. You can't do that very well, with ornate samplers, no matter how small. They do not have the same feeling of honesty, as these charts.
While looking through the book, I laughed and laughed and laughed. Yes, these charts are for real. Yes, you are allowed to stitch that word. Go ahead, and stitch that word, too. Liberate your thread and needle! Liberate your 28 count linen, and your 14 count aida cloth. Make your DMC scream. Cause if you have this book, you can display how you really feel!

Subversive Cross Stitch #@%&: Designs for Your Surly Side has about 30 patterns. About a third of the designs are from the kits--if you like those, you'll love this book! Some of the kits have been presented here as just charts, but wait, there's more! There are also 20 new designs. There's a whole section of "workplace expressions" from the teddy bear that asks "Please kill me" to "Is that all there is?" the postmodern worker will be able to decorate her cubicle with pride. Other sections include "Everyday Sentiments," "Gifts that Keep Giving," and "Special Occasions." From "Boo F**king Hoo" to "B*tch in Kitchen" to "Baby's s*ck," it's is a book for stitchers of a certain temperament.

The introduction features a good stitching tutorial making the book suitable for rank beginners. I've been stitching for 17 years, and I still enjoy the book because the patterns are fresh. Sure, I could probably chart them myself, but who has the time? It's the stitching I want to do, and Julie Jackson has channeled my inner b*tch so I can spend time stitching the sentiments that have, until now, been left unexpressed in this medium. The cross-stitch industry is always complaining about "aging consumers," this book should bring in some new blood.

Chock full o' modern-day, what-you-really-want-to-say aphorisms, this book is a blast - even if you're not a x-stitcher (and I'm not, altho' instructions and patterns are included). Hate treacle? Then you'll love this one. Plus, the grandma-y borders featuring bunnies, birds, hearts and squirrels add a splash of irony.

There are plenty of folks on my Christmas list who will find this snarky little book under their trees this year! Happy #@%& holidays, I say!

(FYI: While I strongly recommend this gift book to you cynical grown-ups, do note that the messages aren't exactly kid-friendly!)

If you're like me and think that Julie Jackson's Subversive Cross Stitch website is the bees knees, you're going to love this book. It's a beautifully designed book that will both inspire easy to make gifts for friends and family and also be a unique gift item.