How To Make Cross Stitch Friends.

by Julia Wigham

Cross stitching is often thought of as being a solitary pastime, perhaps sitting alone while everyone else is out having a great time. But this is not so! This delightful craft can be the ticket to make many new cross stitch friends and have lots of fun — and yes, complete those cross stitch projects too.

To start searching for fellow cross stitchers, try looking locally first. Perhaps there’s a club near you that you can join. A great place to ask about local clubs is at your craft store. They may know of clubs, and even better, they may have a club that meets at the store. If no club exists, you can always form one yourself.

This will require more thought and planning than you may at first realize, but will reward you many times over. Do not cut any corners here. You’ll have to decide where you will meet (think: good lighting, comfortable chairs, refreshment facilities, car parking, and so on) and whether you wish to focus on cross stitch or whether you should include other embroidery or craftwork too. Finding a meeting time that suits most people is one of the biggest decisions.

As your plan starts to take shape, you’ll have to decide if there’ll be a membership fee, what the goals of the club are, and if you want to have rules. Sometimes it’s easier to wait until you have a couple of members to decide on these issues. Then you can make decisions as a group about the direction in which you want the club to go. The main thing to keep in mind as you form your club is that it should be fun. You should enjoy stitching while you chat with the other members.

For some people, the idea of creating their own cross stitch club and sorting through the details may seem overwhelming. In this case, you can start out small. Find a few friends who like to stitch and ask them over to your house for a fun evening. Everyone may have so much fun stitching and talking that your informal get-together may soon form into a full-fledged club.

Of course, you can find cross stitch friends in other places close to home.

The most obvious way to cast the net of friendship is to seek out penpals. There are many stitching websites that have a penpal section, and many popular magazines contain find-a-penpal pages. This is wonderful way of making cross stitch friends from all over the world, and you may have the opportunity of exchanging small projects if you so wish. It’s often helpful to discuss your stitching projects — you can motivate each other to finish those tricky pieces you’ve been putting off.

In addition to cross stitch sites, you can find penpal sites on the internet as well. When you visit these sites, do a little research to make certain they are legitimate. As always, guard your personal information when you’re online. Don’t give out your address or your phone number. The penpals, and the penpal site, don’t need this information. Supplying your email address is more than enough to start a penpal email conversation.

Many people prefer to chat with their penpal using email rather than snail mail. When you email, you tend to get a quicker response. This makes it simpler to keep in touch. Also, some people don’t like writing letters, although they do enjoy writing emails. If, however, you and your penpal enjoy writing letters, then you’ll be in for a treat sometimes when you visit your mailbox. In addition to letters, you and your penpal also can exchange little gifts for added fun.

Beyond penpal sites, e-groups for cross stitch enthusiasts exist as well. The way these groups work is that people sign up who share an interest. The groups chat about the subject, in this case cross stitch. Members also talk about their lives, and many friendships are formed. Yahoo has a group called XStitchpals. In this e-group, people send each other little cards that they’ve cross stitched each month. The cards have a theme, so it really makes it fun. You may find you quickly form many friendships on an e-group such as this.

So what are you waiting for? There are lots of new cross stitch friends out there if you spend a little time looking for them… and hey! Why not look a little closer to where you are right HERE, right NOW — go join the forums at Patterns Patch private cross stitch club.

About the Author:

Julia Wigham is a professional author and co-founder of Patterns Patch cross stitch forums. An online cross stitch community whose members get free: patterns, articles and tutorials. Come to our lively => cross stitch blogs right now.