How Social Media Killed the Cross Stitch Magazine 23 Sep 2:17 AM (4 days ago)
I truly think that about 12 years ago, we were at the peak of cross stitch magazines. They appeared to be everywhere, from the traditional to the modern. And then, they died.
The loss of major cross stitch magazines like Cross Stitch Crazy and Cross Stitch Gold to the small upstarts like the Xstitch Mag, and every cross stitch magazine losing readership and circulation.
But I’m not here to lament the loss of these mags (although I do miss them); instead, I’m here to discuss how these stalwarts of cross stitch ended, all thanks to social media.
The Magazine Era (1990s to early 2010s)
We start in the true magazine era; not just that of 10 years ago, but the 90s, 2000s and 2010s. This era was a major one for cross stitch, where new designers were sprouting up (like yours truly), new trends like plastic canvas or waste canvas were coming out, and people brought things in actual physical shops!
For this period, magazines were the thing that brought cross stitchers together. Here we could share ideas, community news, tips, patterns, and more.
If you wanted inspiration, you went to your local shop and picked up a copy of your favorite.
It was the heyday of cross stitch magazines.
And like all things that rise, one day it must fall.
Pinterest Became the World’s Biggest Cross Stitch Magazine
In comes Pinterest, the first of the social media platforms to really change cross stitch. Unlike other social communities to come after it, Pinterest only allowed for one thing: inspiration.
Magazines had truly owned this space for decades, but with that also came complacency. I’ve spoken before about how this period was defined by the same three cross stitch patterns. And magazines really lent into this.
So when a challenger came in, offering inspiration of ANYTHING you could imagine, no wonder it settled into the cross stitch world.
Instead of 50 patterns a month of the same bear you knew you’d always get, you could suddenly get a million at your fingertips in a moment’s notice. Sure, copyright was being ignored, and most of the patterns were questionable if they weren’t copyrighted, but they were there.
Instagram Changed Everything Again
So when Instagram came along, you probably thought it would fight for the same ground; but it found a whole new area to enjoy.
Instagram changed the cross stitch world from “look at this pattern” to “Look what I cross stitched“.
Instead of following a magazine you liked, you could actually follow the designer you liked. But not only that, you could speak with them, ask them questions, inspire them, and find like-minded people just like you.
And this, in turn, meant designers no longer needed magazines to reach audiences.
This process brought in the rise of Etsy cross stitch stores, new places to buy patterns, and a spike in the volume of cross stitch designers.
TikTok and YouTube Finished the Job
So, as cross stitch magazines died, pushed out by their own hubris, their lack of variation, and their lack of community, in came our final two to knock them for good.
Short-form content (TikTok), and its bigger brother, long-form content (Flosstube). With over 82% of cross stitchers having confessed to watching a cross stitch YouTube tutorial, cross stitch magazines lost their last unique feature: tips, tricks, and tutorials.
82% of cross stitchers have confessed to watching a cross stitch YouTube tutorial – Block Quote from page: https://lordlibidan.com/social-media-and-cross-stitch/
You could get all the education you needed, along with personality, parasocial relationships, real-time trends, and instant feedback. And even better, it was free!
The New Magazines Aren’t Magazines
So now we sit in a world where cross stitch is no longer defined by a few magazines, but Pinterest boards, Instagram feeds, Flosstubes, Discord servers, Facebook groups, Patreon communities, and Reddit groups.
Sure, we no longer see magazines, but the need is still there. People still want inspiration, and people still get it. No, cross stitch isn’t dying; it’s now in different communities.
Cross stitch patterns themselves are changing, and there are still more cross stitch publications like books than you can shake a stick at!
But I do miss those magazines…
Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan
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Why Cross Stitch Pattern Quality Is Tanking (And AI Slop Is Making It Worse) 16 Sep 2:35 AM (11 days ago)
I do not doubt that historic cross stitch patterns are being deleted from the internet, but at the same time, the quality is tanking too. Ironically, one of the main reasons for this is the abundance of portals that cross stitch designers can use to sell patterns. This should, therefore, suggest that curated patterns are becoming the norm, pushing poor quality patterns to the sidelines.
But this, sadly, is the exact opposite of the case.
Despite the issue with deleted patterns in the industry, the answer to this issue actually comes down to abundance. Historically, there were few places you could get cross stitch patterns: specialist magazines, if you were lucky, a local craft shop, or maybe an official book or two. And that meant there was always a quality that came with it. Sure, there were only three patterns to speak of: basic licensed character, fairy fairy in a forest, or flowers. But those were quality patterns! Even if they lacked inventiveness, variation, or interest for most cross stitchers.
Now, we see a massive volume of patterns. From Etsy stores to designers’ stores, to TikTok shops, and Pinterest; I can get up a literal million cross stitch patterns right now in a few seconds. That’s a big jump. And with it came a whole load of cruddy patterns…
The Reasons Behind Poor Quality Patterns
How did we go from a time of low abundance and high quality, to one of high abundance and low quality?
Well, as always, it’s not just one thing, but rather a development of a few factors all happening at once.
Ease Of Production
The first factor is actually fine on its own. Pattern design companies started to develop their own in-house solutions, and in turn started offering these out for cross stitchers to buy at lower prices. And before you know it, we have a glut of high quality cross stitch pattern generators that both designers and beginner stitchers alike can take advantage of.
This in itself doesn’t mean that we got loads of bad patterns, or even loads of patterns. Instead, we saw designers take their first steps into a world of production; offering their own patterns out. And with this, we saw more patterns, but importantly, they were high quality.
But as these became more and more popular, more and more people started to learn how to make cross stitch patterns. Once again, not an issue.
But sadly, non-cross stitchers started working out how to make patterns; and for them, they wanted something cheap they could produce; and they either didn’t understand what made a good pattern, or didn’t care.
The Death Of Gatekeepers
But don’t worry, for the cross stitch world was prepared for this!
Through a network of smaller designer sites, cross stitch forums, or even physical stitching groups, people were blocking bad patterns from getting shared. Only those with high quality were hosted or shared; only those that actually looked like someone could stitch them were suggested to others.
This does sound like a good thing, but these cross stitch gatekeepers were also the same ones giving us those three boring patterns, and stopping innovation in the market. So when the time came for them to lay down their blockades, we celebrated!
However, the death of cross stitch gatekeepers came with the other side of the sword; bad patterns no longer had someone looking out for them. License holders would still maintain copyright, and for a time they were doing it strongly (maybe even too strongly), but quality wasn’t something anyone was looking out for.
Stitchers for a while did their best, but when license holders realised it was costing far more than it was worth to keep banning terrible mock-ups of their IP, we were suddenly inundated with both large volumes and illegal patterns.
Pattern Mills & AI Slop
In walks the pattern mill; or in more modern times, AI slop patterns. These are stores on places like Etsy or Temu that either churn out terrible patterns by the thousand, or even steal others’ work and do poor jobs at copying them.
Without gatekeepers, without license holders caring and the ability to mass produce pattern after pattern with ease, these stores bombarded us.
Sadly, places like Etsy are still filled with these, with pattern mills learning to get around the rules by offering “packs” of patterns instead of singular ones.
New Cross Stitchers
Whilst many cross stitchers that are long in the tooth have seen this happening, and know to avoid it, sadly new stitchers don’t. There is now a bulk of people watching TikTok videos telling them that patterns are plentiful and of good quality, when in reality they aren’t.
This has even got to a point where one of the most common Reddit threads in cross stitch groups is accidental aida misuse.
If social media doesn’t care if someone stitches it correctly, why would they care if the pattern was any good?
What You Can Do About Poor Quality Cross Stitch Patterns
So now we find ourselves in a pickle. Poor and abundant patterns, no gatekeepers, no license holders, and the rise of AI cross stitch patterns filling our feeds. But there’s got to be a solution, right?
Sadly, this all happened on our watch once before. Where we heralded the loss of gatekeepers, we forgot that quality was something we needed to protect. However, we’re now seeing a new brand of gatekeeper out there; one that is open to change, open to what stitchers want, but also one protecting us from terrible patterns.
Thats why one of cross stitches’ biggest communities recently blocked AI patterns from its feeds.
But the biggest thing you can do? Report bad patterns, tell people when someone shares AI slop, and avoid buying those mass pattern archives.
Sure, we’re here now, but we can defend against it!
Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan
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