Editing Cross-stitch (section)

==History==
[[File:Sarah Littleton sampler - DPLA - 0d33db0ad08813edd99631d7ff873ca3 (page 1).jpg|alt=Cross-stitch sampler by Sarah Littleton, 1868|thumb|Cross-stitch sampler by Sarah Littleton, 1868]]
Cross-stitch can be found all over the world since the Middle Ages.<ref>Gillow, John, and Bryan Sentance: ''World Textiles'', Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown, 1999, {{ISBN|0-8212-2621-5}}, p. 181</ref> Many folk museums show examples of clothing decorated with cross-stitch, especially from continental [[Europe]] and [[Asia]].<ref>''Threads'' (magazine), Issue 11, June/July 1987</ref>

The cross-stitch [[sampler (needlework)|sampler]] is called that because it was generally stitched by a young girl to learn how to stitch and to record alphabet and other patterns to be used in her household sewing. These samples of her stitching could be referred back to over the years. Often, motifs and initials were stitched on household items to identify their owner, or simply to decorate the otherwise-plain cloth. The earliest known cross stitch sampler made in the United States is currently housed at [[Pilgrim Hall]] in [[Plymouth, Massachusetts]].<ref name="pilgrimhall">{{cite web|url=http://www.pilgrimhall.org/s_sampler.htm|publisher=pilgrimhall.org|title=Loara Standish Sampler|access-date=2017-04-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218104915/http://www.pilgrimhall.org/s_sampler.htm|archive-date=2007-12-18}}</ref> The sampler was created by Loara Standish, daughter of Captain [[Myles Standish]] and pioneer of the Leviathan stitch, circa 1653.[[Image:Cross stitch detail.jpg|thumb|200px|Detail of floral border pattern in cotton. Tea cloth (small tablecloth), [[Hungary]], mid-twentieth century.]]

Traditionally, cross-stitch was used to embellish items like household linens, tablecloths, dishcloths, and [[doilies]] (only a small portion of which would actually be embroidered, such as a border). Although there are many cross-stitchers who still employ it in this fashion, it is now increasingly popular to work the pattern on pieces of fabric and hang them on the wall for decoration. Cross-stitch is also often used to make greeting cards, pillow tops, or as inserts for box tops, coasters and trivets.

[[File:Surif cross-stitch.jpg|thumb|Cross stitch from [[Surif]]. Top half of picture is the reverse side.]]

Multicoloured, shaded, painting-like patterns as we know them today are a fairly modern development, deriving from similar shaded patterns of [[Berlin wool work]] of the mid-nineteenth century. Besides designs created expressly for cross-stitch, there are software programs that convert a photograph or a fine art image into a chart suitable for stitching. One example of this is in the cross-stitched reproduction of the [[Sistine Chapel]] charted and stitched by Joanna Lopianowski-Roberts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Gwen Magee (Gwendolyn) |author-link=Gwendolyn Ann Magee |url=http://creativityjourney.blogspot.com/2010/08/sistine-chapel-in-cross-stitch.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20230716140747/https://creativityjourney.blogspot.com/2010/08/sistine-chapel-in-cross-stitch.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 |title=Textile Arts Resource Guide: The Sistine Chapel in Cross-Stitch |publisher=Creativityjourney.blogspot.com |date=2010-08-27 |access-date=2013-12-29 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5634216/Cross-stitch-recreation-of-Sistine-Chapel-ceiling.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20230716140730/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5634216/Cross-stitch-recreation-of-Sistine-Chapel-ceiling.html |archive-date=2023-07-16 |title=Cross-stitch recreation of Sistine Chapel ceiling |newspaper=Telegraph |date=2009-06-25 |access-date=2013-12-29 |location=London |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are many cross-stitching "[[guilds]]" and groups across the United States and Europe which offer classes, collaborate on large projects, stitch for charity, and provide other ways for local cross-stitchers to get to know one another. Individually owned local needlework shops (LNS) often have stitching nights at their shops, or host weekend stitching retreats.

Today, cotton floss is the most common embroidery thread. It is a thread made of [[mercerized cotton]], composed of six strands that are only loosely twisted together and easily separable. While there are other manufacturers, the two most-commonly used (and oldest) brands are [[DMC (Company)|DMC]] and Anchor,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dmc.com/uk/p-uk-about-us.html/ |title=About Us |access-date=2020-08-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621151905/https://www.dmc.com/uk/p-uk-about-us.html/ |archive-date=2020-06-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.coatsandclark.com/Products/Hand+Embroidery/Threads/ |title=Coats & Clark Hand Embroidery Threads |access-date=2012-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728205458/http://www.coatsandclark.com/Products/Hand+Embroidery/Threads/ |archive-date=2012-07-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> both of which have been manufacturing embroidery floss since the 1800s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dmc-usa.com/DMC-History.aspx |title=DMC History |publisher=Dmc-usa.com |url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170209024634/http://www.dmc-usa.com/DMC-History.aspx|archive-date = 9 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coatsandclark.com/About+Coats/History/Coats+History.htm |title=Coats History |publisher=Coatsandclark.com |access-date=2013-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105212614/http://www.coatsandclark.com/About+Coats/History/Coats+History.htm |archive-date=2013-11-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Other materials used are pearl (or perle) cotton, Danish flower thread, [[silk]] and [[Rayon]]. Different wool threads, metallic threads or other novelty threads are also used, sometimes for the whole work, but often for accents and embellishments. Hand-dyed cross-stitch floss is created just as the name implies—it is dyed by hand. Because of this, there are variations in the amount of color throughout the thread. Some variations can be subtle, while some can be a huge contrast. Some also have more than one color per thread.

Cross-stitch is widely used in traditional Palestinian dressmaking.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution|last=Munayyer|first=Hanan|publisher=Olive Branch Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-62371-924-1|pages=423}}</ref> Palestinian cross stitch is called [[tatreez]]. In 2021, tatreez was added to the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO - The art of embroidery in Palestine, practices, skills, knowledge and rituals |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/the-art-of-embroidery-in-palestine-practices-skills-knowledge-and-rituals-01722 |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=ich.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref>