Nostalgia in Cross Stitch
I love vintage designs. Do you?
The word nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often in an idealised form. Former times can appear to be very appealing as we look back through our rose-tinted glasses.What better way is there to put aside our current problems than to bask in the memories of good times, frozen scenes or memories, kept as golden times, unaffected by negativity and worries.
Did we really spend our childhoods walking along river banks, paddling in rock pools at the seaside and flying kites? Well, yes, we probably did do those things – but not every day.
For many cross stitchers, there are many ways to relive the past through choosing design that represents their favourite emories of how things used to be. Of course, cross stitching can provide a form of time travel – as we stitch, we can be transported to other times as bygone eras are brought to life as we stitch. Former times also represent a world that moved more slowly than our present fast pace.
There are many vintage cross stitch designs available as kits or charts/patterns. These include the All Our Yesterdays series by Faye Whittaker, and the Lilliput Lane collection. Members of the Patterns Patch club have a wide range of free designs to download, so may be spoilt for choice.
Here are some tips for stitching nostalgic themes:
1. Consider using specialist fabrics. Stitch your design on rustic beige linen to add the appropriate texture and colour as a background for your theme.
2. Use some specialist threads. Consider the more antique colours, such as copper or deep gold. Muted colours and pastels such as light greens or blues are preferable to bright pinks or yellows.
3. Use embellishments to decorate your project. Old buttons or vintage charms may add an extra to your work.
4. Use an appropriate frame. This involves personal choice. However, it may be a pity to frame a nostalgic scene in a modern frame, so look for a frame that reflects the time of the picture – possibly a classic coloured mount.
5. Convert an old favourite photograph into a chart/pattern. If you don’t have the skills to to do this yourself, then there are many companies who will do this for you. Patterns Patch club members may have this service free of charge.
Do share with us your favourite design of a bygone era.
Happy Stitching!
Iona
