how did you start?

[Ketta]

I started when I was about 6 or 7, when I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. She was teaching me to crochet, embroider, and cross stitch. I wasn't into crochet as much, but I managed to master most embroidery stitches by the time I was 8. Cross stitch was my favourite though, by far.

I liked the more 'realistic' looking projects, and they were harder to find when I was a kid, so by the time I was a teenager I'd stopped stitching. About ten years ago, I got back into it again when I found a couple of patterns I really liked of artwork, and then a few years ago I discovered a pattern making program I really like. Now I mostly make my own patterns and do things that look very realistic (current projects are an insect and Serenity from Firefly). It's really wonderful to be stitching so avidly again.

[nettie]

My mum encouraged me when I was 16 I was trying to do to much and had put myself under too much pressure. I wasn't coping and my health was affected! Mum suggested I try stitching a chart in one of her magazines got me the material and threads and I've never looked back!

[Cecilia]

One Christmas, when I was about 15 or 16 (I'm in my 40's now!) my brothers bought me a needlepoint kit of a German Shepherd dog. I continued doing needlepoint for a while afterwards before making the transition to cross stitch - can't remember when that happened actually - but i guess I should thank my brothers for starting me off.

[meerkat]

I did my first cross stitch in 1994, after visiting a craft barn and seeing the little kit. I used six strands to start with,didn't read the instructions Anyway I finished it as a card for our younger son's teacher and I have been stitching ever since.

This was my first cross stitch project and my second one,Nasturtiums also in 1994,from the same shop.I purchased the frame that went with the flower tile, at a Stitching Show,years ago in Birmingham UK

[Sarah Gixxer]

I started stitching around 20 years ago (when I was 19). I lived with my boyfriend and his parents and his mother bought herself a cross stitch kit of some yellow flowers to do, but halfway through she realised it was straining her eyes too much and gave up and asked if I wanted to finish it. I fumbled along, not having the faintest clue what I was doing, but got there in the end. After that she bought me a kit for Christmas - it was a scene of a cottage by a lake, if I remember right - I don't have that any more. The rest is history!

[XandraS]

Great topic, I've really enjoyed reading everyone's stories.

I first learnt to stitch at school, we must have been 8 or 9. I liked it but it wasn't something I stuck with. Then in October 2008 my husband and I moved to the middle east and I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands. In the summer of 2009 I came across some kits in a local shop and decided to give it a go, it was a tatty Ted wedding sampler and a classic Winnie the pooh, never finished the tatty, too many mistakes made with it, but Winnie finally got finished. Then I discovered the magazines and then this forum, and I have not looked back since.
I haven't really bought any kits since the first two as I really enjoy putting my own personal touch on things by choosing the fabric and making colour changes.

[Juel]

I remember doing cross stitching at school when I was, I guess 7 or 8 ?
But I think my mother showed me how to stitch, too. She has a case for her needles that she made in school with lots of different stitches. I remember asking her about it and she showed me how to work the different stitches.
When I was in school, I hated to stitch, I always had a quarrel with my teacher. We had to do a bookmark and in my eyes my bookmark was finished but my teacher told me that it had to be wider. I told her that a bookmark usually isn't so wide and that it would look funny if I added anything to the width... I remember driving her crazy
The longer I think about my childhood the more I realize what a terrible child I was...

Well, I stitched a few little designs at home afterwards but quit it for some reason... About 2 years or so ago I came across a knitting blog and the lady who wrote it also stitched. She did 'Woodland Enchantress' and I was simply amazed so I first picked up a few kits I had a home and then I bought a Dimensions Gold kit, but I didn't stitch so much because I spent more time knitting. When I came to this forum a year and a half later that changed and now I barely knit but stitch all the time.
I just love all the colors, with knitting you can't get more than 20 or 30 colors in your work and even that is difficult. i just love Haed because of all the colors! =)

[debupnorth]

Reading everyone's stories, it sounds like I was a late bloomer. I took a workshop at a friend's quilt/craft shop in 1984 (I was 31). I think we made some sort of cutesy ornament which I have no idea what happened to it.

Sometime after the class, I found a simple design called "Bare Babies" in "If I Held a Star" by Vanessa-Ann Collection. Since it was mostly made up of a one-stitch wide outline, there wouldn't be that much stitching - how hard could it be?! Believe me, I certainly learned the importance of counting on that "simple" piece!! I took out various sections 4 or 5 times because by the time I got all around the outline it didn't match up!! Anyway, I was so pleased with the finally finished piece that I had it framed & it hung in my various bathrooms until a couple years ago when I gifted it to my young niece, whose father I had taught to stitch.

Cross stitching has been a passion of mine ever since!

Deb

[milkmaid]

my grandmother always stitched well she did any fabric craft and paper ones she thought i was very impatient ,and get me a tapestry of a basset hound and i did it must have been about 14 , I've stitched ever since
i used to find very little i liked to stitch ,but I've got a long wish list as designs have come such a long way

[gojirafanatic]

I started just over 2 years ago, I wanted to make something that commemorated our cats both past and present. I looked at different mediums and then in hobby craft i saw key ring kits of 3 different cat designs. I discussed it with my wife who has been embroidering since the age of 4, she thought I'd get bored after the first kit let alone do all seven cats (I admit i get bored very easily, but not with cross stitching). Still I decided to do it anyway and after the first one was completed (with some guidance from my wife) i knew i was hooked. now I not only cross stitch at home but also in my lunch breaks at work (this allows me to stitched a couple of projects at the same time!!!)

I've always found I do things better if dumped in at the deep end, so to speak and cross stitching is no exception. Aside from a few small things from magazines my projects seem to be getting bigger and more complicated with Godzilla and now a Lilliput lane design that i will eventually turn into a clock!

Graham

[colibri]

It IS a great topic!
For me too, it all started with my grandmother. She used to sew, knit, crochet, embroider, cross stitch, you name it. During WWII, her handicraft was what helped her and my mother to stay alive and not starve...
She tried to teach me the basics, but she passed away when I was only five. Then my mother taught me some more, but it didn't really work.
In elementary school, I did some very small projects, but never had the patience for it.
My real love affair with cross stitch began when I was 22 (about 27 years ago), had a toddler at home - and miscarried my second pregnancy. The sadness and disappointment led me to look for something creative to do with my hands during the recovery. I had an old Burda at home... and there I was, all addicted!

[CynthiaXS]

It was November or December, 1989. I was very VERY pregnant w/ my only child(John Cody, now 21). I suddenly felt the need to do something crafty. I started by making everyone an ornament each for Christmas. That was followed by a baby announcement for my little Christmas present, John(born Dec. 22, 1989). I've been stitching ever since. Nobody taught me; I learned the hard way; Trial & Error lol.

[Lenne]

Love reading how people started, it's a great topic good call

I only started February this year (I think)! After a good many years of being trapped indoors with agoraphobia my doctor's last resort for advice to stop me going batty was to get a hobby so I researched online what would suit me. My other half bought me a Mouseloft cat and some Woodland Folk patterns, I gave it a go and just didn't stop!

I'm wondering if the doc actually got this one right. I have gained so much more confidence since I started, and now I am actually leaving the house at least once a week on short trips accompanied which is a huge achievement. My main aim at the moment is to get into town and go into the cross stitch shop and just stare at all the pretties haha! It's certainly one I know I am going to achieve at some point

[godzoned]

Mum started me off and I cannot remember the age it was. Could have been around 7 or 8 yes old.

I cannot remember the one I did first either. I can however remember it was a kit.
Did kits for a very longtime since. But about 1997 I started to purchase my own graph paper and design my own for my own use. No fancy stitching only crosses. I have now graduated to pc stitch on the computer and doing photos into x stitch.

Currently doing a picture I liked from the Internet. Link below.

Funny enough though I have been given two kits - pictures of teddy bears they are a set. I might do them and learn something new as the kits are very different now to when I started out.

I have enjoyed reading others stories. Great subject.

[ucladoc]

In 4th grade, one of our arts and crafts projects was to make a cross-stitched Christmas ornament to give to our parents for Christmas. That was my first project, but I don't really think that it had any influence on why I cross-stitch today.

Two years ago, when I was 25, my mom and I were shopping at Joann Fabrics. My mom is extremely artistic and is always making something. We passed by the cross-stitch aisle and I said, "I want to have a hobby like you. Should I try cross-stitching?" She encouraged it and I purchased a kit to make six Christmas ornaments --- from then on I was hooked!

[sajehill]

This is such a fun topic! I love reading how everyone got their start. I will need to tell you how I got my 3 starts

The First Start

Back in the early to mid 80s my husband & I were living in Florida. I was trying my hand at various crafts back then but hadn't found anything that really excited me. One day my husband went to Tampa to do some shopping & for some reason I decided to stay home. He returned with a little gift for me. He saw a stitching shop that had just opened for business so he went inside to have a look around. To entice customers they were giving away little kits so you could give it a try. The finished product was only a few inches square. My husband chose the little owl design for me & I enjoyed stitching it so much that I couldn't wait to do more! I bought all kinds of floss & books & magazines & kits & other supplies. After a while I started designing my own things which I submitted to a cross stitch magazine & I was a regular contributor for them for about a year. Nothing earth-shattering ... no one was doing shading or fancy stitches back then ... but I was pretty pleased to be getting paid for my pattern designs & I was really excited when they chose one of them to feature in their advertising for the magazine that year

We moved to Montana & I continued to stitch. Then we moved to Tennessee & then a few years later to North Dakota. We've moved around a lot ... lol! Anyway, in North Dakota I got more involved with quilting, learned how to tat & ended up teaching tatting classes, tried my hand at hardanger, & my friend & I painted all sorts of stuff for craft shows. We were also the painters for a woman who sold things in various shops in several states. She designed them, her husband cut them out of wood, & my friend & I painted & finished them. I also got involved with making bobbin lace. I was doing & learning so many new things at the time & thought "I'm really not all that interested in cross stitch anymore" so I sold just about everything I had on eBay. The only thing I kept was my DMC floss collection. I thought it would come in handy for other crafts which it did.

The Second Start

A few years later we moved to Michigan, then back to North Dakota, then back to Michigan. I got hooked on cross stitch again after seeing a British cross stitching magazine at Barnes & Noble. Eventually I started a little internet shop selling various patterns, kits, & supplies. I rebuilt my personal inventory & had quite an extensive inventory in the shop. I also had a folder full of design ideas. I was planning to do my own design line. I was still doing the quilting & the painting & the bobbin lace though & I eventually added knitting & rug braiding to the mix as well as making lampwork beads (had my own torch & kiln & everything) & I got to the point in 2004 where I decided that sadly I couldn't do everything so I decided to totally stop some things. Cross stitch was one of the things I decided to give up. I sold all my inventory & all my personal supplies (including all my floss collections) & I actually threw away my design ideas "Make a clean break" is what I was thinking at the time.

The Third Start

I started a blog in May 2011 & began to follow others. One day someone posted a photo on her blog showing a few cross stitched pinkeeps she had purchased. They had a primitive design to them & I love primitives I went to the site where she said she bought these pinkeeps & uh-oh, there were charts for sale as well & one in particular caught my eye. I argued back & forth with myself for maybe 10 minutes ...

"You don't want to do cross stitch again!"
"Yes I do ... it will be fun!"
"No you don't You have enough to keep you busy!"
"Yes I do! I always loved doing cross stitch! I'll stop doing something else!"

You get the idea

I ordered the pinkeep chart & went out the following day & bought 160 skeins of floss (I only needed 3 for the pinkeep), 6 fabrics (I only needed 1), & several supplies to start building my CCS inventory again ... & you know what??? I actually had a design pop into my head within a day after buying that chart!!! Since then I've thought of a couple more!

I do a lot of other crafts ... quilting, knitting, painting, rug braiding, & sewing prim dolls & other prim items (but not clothes ... I'm a bust at sewing clothes). In the past I've done even more things. I think I've tried just about everything you can think of. It looks like cross stitch always calls me back though. This is the third time I'm getting involved with it. I think this should tell me something! I don't ever expect there to be a Fourth Start

Blessings,
Shirlee
http://farmhouseponderings.blogspot.com/" target="_blank

[paul]

A friend of mine crossed stitched all the time, she was always making things for other people. She never stitched anything for herself. So for her birthday I stitched her a Winnie the pooh bookmark as she loves Winnie and reading.
She was so happy with it she burst into tears.

That was about 11 years ago. I only started just to make that gift for her but I enjoyed it so much. I Found it relaxing (unless you get your thread in a tangle/knot) that I just carried on.

Since then I've made lots of things for other people as I like the feeling you get when you give them what you've stitched. Always brings me joy. I know now why my friend was always stitching for other people.

That's how I started

[Mrs Milkybar Kid]

I think I was actually introduced to cross stitch via textiles lessons at school - which considering how little of it they do in schools today is quite surprising! I remember in 1st year at secondary school having to design our own chart and then stitch it on 14ct aida. I did a design of a little troll (you know the dolls with the fuzzy hair - not the type that live under bridges ) and I really enjoyed doing it. After that through my teens I crossed stitched on and off using kits. But it has only been in the last 2 years that the cross stitch bug has bitten me in a bad way. I needed something to so when I was very ill, I didn't have much energy and could do very little. I saw Cross Stitcher magazine with a picture of Margaret Sherry's cats on the cover and decided to stitch it on an apron for my sister using soluble canvas (she is a cross stitcher too). I got hooked and have now branched out into all sorts of different cross stitch designs and have gathered much stash! This forum is v v bad for enabling........!

[OctoberLace]

I started really early (like Kindergarten) with Learn-to-Sew lace up cards, which I just found on Amazon. After that, I did some things with stamped cross stitch and designed my own cross stitch for a Girl Scout embroidery badge. That one had a windmill, wooden shoes, tulips, and rabbits in cross stitch and back stitch, done on the border of my pillow case. I can honestly say it was a good piece. I knew nothing about focusing on holes in fabric, just sewed the piece in nice even Xs with sewing thread! At age 14, I did a stamped piece of the whaling ship J.P. Morgan, and later some other stamped samplers.

I really didn't get into "real" counted cross stitching until I saw Fairy Grandmother by Lavender and Lace on the internet. I went to a LNS and spoke with the owner about my wanting to do that piece, and she suggested I take her class on stitching linen and work the L&L free Christmas piece first. The class was one night, but I did learn about stitching linen and started the Christmas Angel. Once she was done, it was full speed ahead to stitch Fairy Grandmother. Other stitching followed, including L&L, Mirabilia, and others.

Finally, I found HAED this past January, and I'm addicted!

[Mabel Figworthy]

That one had a windmill, wooden shoes, tulips, and rabbits

You wouldn't happen to be a fellow Dutchwoman, would you ?

I started cross stitch in my (very) late teens -- having disliked needlework fiercely at primary school, where I wanted to do woodwork but couldn't because I was a girl (this was the 70s) I suddenly found out that cross stitch was actually great fun and very relaxing.

I got into it because I saw a kit of an initial in satin stitch with a lovely cross-stitched cat curled around it; bought it, started it burdened with absolutely no idea of what I ought to be doing, and produced a finished article which bore some resemblance to the photograph on the kit, but with some discoloured white threads because I would use every thread up right to the very last bit, and several of the cross stitches going in different directions.

Not perfect, to say the least...

But I like a challenge and a kindly elderly neighbour who stitched gave me some threads and fabrics when she could no longer see well enough, so I kept going and started designing cards and small samplers for births and marriages. Then a lull as I got into crochet and calligraphy, but when I emigrated from The Netherlands to England I decided to pick it up again.

Then I joined the forum and got myself into all sorts of difficulties, mostly budgetary as I discovered silks, speciality threads, and a host of new techniques including Hardanger which meant I just had to build up a collection of perle cottons and now I design and have my own website -- the things a hobby can lead to !