I had a crochet lesson with one of my delightful private students this morning, and on my way home from her house, stopped at a local charity shop (what we would call a thrift store in the States) because I saw a sign in their window that said “Thousands of books, most less than a pound”, and I thought, ‘Hey, maybe they have craft books’.

Well, it turned out they didn’t have many craft BOOKS, but they sure did have a TON of knitting and crochet magazines and pattern books.

This is my haul. 34 magazines and pattern books, and one actual book, for £8.50. EIGHT POUNDS FIFTY. They range from the early 60’s to current, from pure kitsch to pure genius and everything in between. I have to teach tonight at the studio and it is KILLING me, because all I want to do is hunker down with these and read into the night.

Let’s look closer:

Stitchcraft, November 1965. If that picture doesn’t make you want to buy 17 balls of orange wool and get started, then we are very different people.

I want to make everything in this entire magazine. Do you think I could get my husband to smoke a pipe if I made him that vest? Also, why is that guy posing with a bicycle?

“This durable jersey all wool skirt is the best compliment you can pay to all your tops.”

Of course it is.

Now you’ll have to excuse me while I go roll around in all my new toys. EEE!!!

This is one of those beautiful works of art that my wife is so good at sewing. It is fully padded and lined inside which gives it that added quality feel. My son wanted to use it for school but his first one got stolen so now it stands on our cassette stand.

A lovely padded pencil case for extra quality

My wife makes some extraordinary crafts. This is a tiny mouse she made last year for a special exhibition, she is a perfectionist and it shows on this lovely little mouse.

A lovely little mouse made by my wife

The Zombie Mail Chimp Freddies are gone and on their way to Atlanta. They came out very nicely.

I’ve been working long hours but it’s so much fun!

I like to think of these chimps as MAdmen Zombie Chimps.

This guy looks like he is being grilled by the FBI.

“We know you have a taste for brains.”

It’s been a very busy day.

I’ve got to get to the werewolves and the vampires.

No rest for the wicked.

A small medallion free cross stitch chart. I have posted a larger version at a website I set up for this purpose. You can find the larger color chart, as well as a symbols chart, at Just One More Thought.

Another free cross stitch chart for you. This one is taken from the center medallion of a Savonnerie classic rug design.

I have posted a larger version at a website I set up for this purpose. You can find the larger color chart, as well as a symbols chart, at Just One More Thought.

Who likes free cross stitch designs? Here is one of my needlework charts, adapted from a Ming rug.

I have posted a larger version at a website I set up for this purpose. You can find the larger color chart, as well as a symbols chart, at Just One More Thought.

Tricks and Treats by Deborah Harding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a useful book to have on your craftroom shelf. When you get back from your summer vacation at the seashore, browse this book while you listen to the crickets sing in the morning after you get the kids off to their first days of school. If you look around you, there are signs of autumn everywhere: spider webs on the lawn, yellow leaves falling on the sunniest & warmest of early-September days, morning glories that look (if possible) even more glorious after enjoying a little bit of coolness overnight. Crickets still scratching away as late as 10 AM are a sure sign that harvest fun must be just around the corner.

The introductions to each of the chapters in this book transported me away from the heat & humidity of summer to the cooler days of early autumn. They are a nice addition to the craft instructions & really got me in the Halloween mood.

There are quite a few of what I call “cheesy crafts” in this book, but it’s desirable anyway because of the detailed directions & easily-photocopied patterns. I like the addition of a “General Directions” section in the back. I’ve been sewing & crocheting since I was 7 years old, but this old dog really could use some new tricks, as well as a brushing-up on the old ones.

The Smiling Scarecrow at the beginning of the book is a fun craft that you can put your own unique artistry into & turn out something that the kids will look forward to unearthing from storage every September 21. I like the simple but satisfying Hanging Ghosts – the ones that use balloons & simple papier-mache -because the finished product really is adorable. You won’t feel guilty about just throwing these away after Halloween because you’ll look forward to making them again next year, so storing them doesn’t have to be a concern. I thought these would be particularly spooky if you put a string of mini-lights inside or around their circumference.

There’s a lengthy section on kids’ costumes. There are so many inexpensive Halloween costumes available at the big-box discount stores that I wouldn’t put all the time & energy into making one myself. Use your time sitting with your feet up with a cup of apple-cinnamon tea & a book of Victorian ghost stories while the kids are at school or out playing. Remember: If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. The makeup tips are useful & fun, though.

The Pumpkin Head Family is fun & I bet you find more than a couple of new ideas for a comical front-porch display. I love how the authors used the pumpkins’ stems as noses. And you don’t have to make a huge mess carving the pumpkins to give your gourd true personality.

The Fun Foods section includes lots of doable “recipes” that will delight your little partygoers. I know my grandchildren especially love to decorate cookies (& then immediately eat them, of course).

The highlight of this book, for me, was the fusible-web Scaredy Cat quilt, Halloween wall-hanging & pillows. I don’t use fusible web often, but I know it’s easy & quick. I would make the Scaredy-Cat quilt with antique reproduction fabric to make it look like it’s vintage. My mind started to race with possibilities looking at these three projects. I also like things I can hang on the wall or use as whimsical decor touches in the living room.

Check Amazon for this book from used-book sellers. I bet you can find it for not more than a couple of dollars & you’ll turn to it throughout the year. I love Halloween no matter what month of the calendar it is.

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Perfection, as one inmate in HMP Wandsworth remarks on the Fine Cell Work website, is not what’s usually expected in prisons.

Fine Cell Work is a charity that teaches needlework to prisoners, to help them acquire professional-level skills, earn money and prepare for a return to society. If you think this sounds like a completely improbable idea, a pie-in-the-sky do-gooder’s scheme on a level with knitting raffia sheep for the school hall fundraiser, prepare to eat those words – because it works. It’s producing dazzling work from superb stitchers – you can see examples online and at FCW events around the country, and there’s a showroom in London, at 38 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1.

More importantly,  it’s changing the way people think.

I never gave prison much thought until  I spent two years working with the legal team of a long-serving remand prisoner. He wasn’t your average British lag: he was a wealthy, well-educated , well-connected foreign lawyer fighting extradition.  I visited him in HMP Pentonville once or twice, then after his transfer I went to HMP Brixton most days to see him. His family visited as often as they were allowed to.

Even for a man with superb family and legal support, with plenty of money for books, phonecards, stamps, and luxuries like decent vegetarian food, with the intelligence to rationalise his situation, work on his own case and help other inmates out with advice, prison was still hell. Because of his age and state of health, as well as the circumstances of the case, he had a cell to himself, but he was not permitted to work. If he hadn’t had two daily legal visits, he would have been locked up for even more of the time, spending over twenty hours a day in a six by nine foot cell that was neither comfortable nor easy to keep clean. It’s easy to understand how someone without much family support, without much education, without a sense of purpose, and without any prospects on the outside, could become so frustrated, angry and depressed that rehabilitation becomes almost impossible.

Prison is supposed to be about rehabilitation as well as punishment. Whether you think that this is good or bad, the way the British prison system works often hinders rehabilitation. Most prisoners, whether on remand or convicted, and whether they are held in conditions that Daily Telegraph readers might consider far too luxurious or Guardian readers might consider mediaeval, don’t get the right education, support, counselling or training to enable them to change their lives.

The prison staff are just as limited by the system as the prisoners. Many of them are doing an improbably good job in almost impossible circumstances. Most of them would readily admit that, with a few more resources and a decent environment, they could do much better by the people in their care and the society that expects so much of them.

Thankfully, there are people working to help prisoners do something constructive with their time inside. Most of them come from charities or religious groups, because most of us from both right and left are unwilling to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to actually engaging with damaged, resentful and sometimes dangerous individuals as human beings. Fine Cell Work is one of those charities. I found out about it from Mr. X Stitch, and I want to spread the word.

Operating in 26 prisons through 45 volunteer instructors, Fine Cell Work trains stitchers to the highest levels of technical competence. This isn’t surprising – the instructors come from such prestigious institutions as the Royal College of Needlework, the Embroiderers’ Guild and  the professional design world. Knitwear and embroidery designer Kaffe Fassett is one of the patrons.

Two thirds of the stitchers are men – which ought not to be surprising, since men still make up the majority of the prison population. Most have no previous experience of any form of craft work and few or no legally saleable skills. Fine Cell Work helps them work towards rehabilitation on many levels.

Learning needlework techniques is a valuable way to achieve and practice precision, care, patience and pride in one’s product. Stitching works for me like a physical mantra: the simple, repetitive actions and complete focus on the needle’s movements free my mind from the world and relax me as much as formal meditation. If stitching gives a few moments’ detachment to a prisoner, it may be the only healing opportunity in his day.

Learning anything to a high enough level to sell on equal terms with professionals is a boost to self-esteem. Once fully trained, the crafters are entrusted with commissions that have deadlines, and also support and mentor trainees. These are saleable skills,  a major factor in reducing the likelihood of re-offending.

Working on commission provides the crafters with an income outside the pennies-an-hour prison earnings that most have to rely on. Some send money to their families, some pay off debts or save for their release. Savings are another proven factor reducing the likelihood of an offender returning to crime.

Prisoners work when locked in their cells – in some circumstances, this can be for 23 hours a day. Having something constructive to do is a life-saver, let alone something that will be evaluated purely on how well you’ve done the work, earning respect as well as money. A Wandsworth officer points out on the Fine Cell Work website that self-respect is another factor in “addressing offending behaviour.”

Fine Cell Work is funded by several charitable Foundations and operates with a fulltime staff of five and a team of 65 volunteers. Some of these teach in prison, some work at the London offices sorting threads and materials into project kits to go out to the prisoners, and some help out at Fine Cell Work sales events all over the country. If you’d like to know more about volunteering, the contact page on the website has the address, phone number and a form for email contact.

Needlework can change the world, one stitch at a time. Fine Cell Work is one of the groups that makes it happen. They deserve the support of every stitcher on the planet. If you’re still not convinced, read the letters on their website.

From the event flyer, © Japan Foundation, London

One of the ways I’m promoting Manga Cross-Stitch and spreading the ideas behind the book is through workshops. The first two were held at the Japan Foundation at the beginning of July, the day after the sashiko lecture described in an earlier post.

I’ve been presenting workshops in all kinds of settings for years. It’s a good way to teach, learn and share ideas: when people have to participate in other ways than simply listening, they usually take in and retain a lot more. A workshop also builds in the enduring gratification of an end product. Whether it’s a plan, a comic, a story, a hand-crafted item or a new skill, you take away something you made, something you didn’t have before.

The Manga Cross-Stitch workshops began because I wanted to have somewhere to show off the beautiful work of my sample stitchers, and to promote the convergence of art and craft and the importance of handiwork. They were photographed for the book, and they look great, but seeing them close up gives a greater appreciation of the individual skill and style of each stitcher. I’m looking for any galleries interested in an exhibition, but meanwhile showing them at  workshops lets others enjoy them, as well as supporting the points I want to make.

When I pitched the workshop to the Japan Foundation, they took a little convincing that this was an appropriate idea for them. Their brief is to present and promote Japanese culture; cross-stitch, although popular in Japan, is a Western art form. Then I showed them some examples of the work, which clarified everything. Interpreting the visual grammar of anime and manga through the foreign medium of counted thread embroidery is no different from interpreting it through the eyes and hands of any non-Japanese artist. It’s a commentary on and response to a Japanese art form, a cultural cross-current like the one that led the artists of 19th-century England and France to respond to Japanese prints, and the one that leads non-Japanese artists to call their work manga rather than using their own language.

Japan-UK 150 logo © Japan-UK 150

As a result, the workshops were presented as part of Japan-UK 150, the official events celebrating 150 years of formal relations between Japan and Britain.

To get the concept across, I decided to begin the session with a presentation on the ideas behind the book and how it actually came into being. I find the process of commissioning and making a book fascinating, especially as new technologies and distribution methods mean the traditional publishing model is evolving so rapidly.

Rogirl and Roboy in a spread from the book

It also gave me a chance to bring anyone unfamiliar with anime and manga up to speed with a thumbnail sketch of the history and visual grammar, and to show off some of the finished pieces. I had brought along a number of things to display, but couldn’t bring everything. Nadia Osman’s gorgeous rendition of Rogirl on 32 count Belfast linen is on a mount over 25″ high and  just wouldn’t fit in my travel case; nor would Karen Hall’s equally impressive Roboy on white 14 count Aida, or the big katakana sampler stitched by Laura Riley and its hiragana counterpart stitched by Paula Taylor with the same precise artistry.

One of the things that has amazed me, as I’ve leafed through countless cross-stitch books in Japanese bookstores, is an apparent lack of samplers or designs that exploit the beauty and elegance of Japanese script. I include both Japanese and Roman script samplers in the book, and one of the charts that workshop participants were invited to stitch used a simple combination of kanji and katakana.

That’s right, it wasn’t just listening – every man and woman who came to the workshops produced some stitching. There were two experienced stitchers at the afternoon session and three in the evening; the others were all complete cross stitch newbies, but by the end of each session, everyone had made good progress on one of the two charts provided. We had a lot of fun in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere where everyone was keen to try their hand at something new. I’ve invited participants to send me photos of their finished work, along with any other manga-inspired cross stitch they do, so I can start an MCS website for exchange of ideas.

I enjoyed working with such intelligent, adventurous people, showing them the stitched examples from the book, plus some special fabrics and threads to inspire future projects, and telling them a little about the history of anime and manga. I’m already looking forward to the next workshops – if you’d like to join one, or book one for your group, contact me via my website, http://www.helenmccarthy.org, or leave a comment here and I’ll respond.

Cover design (UK edition) © Ilex Press

My latest book, Manga Cross-Stitch, finally hit British bookshops and Amazon.co.uk  last week. It should have gone on sale in mid-June, but the Gods of Shipping had other ideas: hopefully they’re now appeased, and the U.S. launch next month will go ahead without a hitch.

I’ve already seen the first review – in the August 2009 issue of SFX, scooping the usual craft mags. Quite aside from the surprise of seeing an embroidery book reviewed there at all, I was  happy to get a positive reading from Leah Holmes. A friend emailed on Friday to tell me the book’s in the shop at the Victoria and Albert Museum. SFX to V&A – an interesting journey.

Like my next book, due in October, Manga Cross-Stitch didn’t have the easiest of beginings. When I started pitching it a couple of years ago, reactions varied from hearty laughter (turning slightly embarrassed as it dawned that I was perfectly serious) to complete disinterest.

Luckily, I’ve been there before, so it didn’t faze me. My first book, Anime! A Beginners Guide to Japanese Animation, was a hard sell. Back in the late 1980s nobody thought there was any interest at all in Japanese cartoons. Even as late as 1991, editors were telling me it “might make a chapter in a book on TV SF”, but there just wasn’t enough material or enthusiasm for anime to support a book devoted to the subject. The Beginners Guide finally appeared in 1993.

I already knew there was interest in using counted thread embroidery in ways far removed from the usual image of Victorian flowers and cute animals.  Julie Jackson’s 2003 book Subversive Cross Stitch had stirred up a hornet’s nest of witty, funny, thoughtful stitching. I also knew there were people interested in anime and manga-style cross stitch – I’d seen plenty of designs on the internet. Unfortunately most of them used copyright characters, sometimes in new and original designs but sometimes copied straight from scanned art or frame grabs – nobody seemed to be making original images. Working on the Mac with a chart programme had convinced me anyone could make original designs, or vary charts to personalise them, and seeing the work of gifted friends had demonstrated that , even working on someone else’s model, the skilled crafter brings something uniquely their own to the end product.

So I just kept pitching the idea for Manga In Stitches. The working title came from the general reaction: I outlined the idea for a book bringing together manga, anime and cross-stitch, and listeners were immediately in stitches. (For anyone unfamiliar with British slang, this indicates irrepressible, near-hysterical laughter.) Finally, the wonderful Tim Pilcher, Commissioning Editor at Ilex Press, saw the potential and championed the idea all the way through to signing a contract.

Of course, that was just the start. I’ve been a needleworker for most of my life – my grandmother taught me to embroider when I was four, and my primary school taught needlework to both boys and girls. I’ve been designing cross stitch and needlepoint on the computer for years. This, though, was my first craft book, and the one thing I knew from the beginning was that I didn’t want it to be like any other craft book.

A spread from the book

Books can change attitudes, in small things as well as big ones. A craft book isn’t on quite the level of The Audacity of Hope, but my dreams for it were  pretty audacious. I wanted it to have all the energy and graphic edge of anime and manga. I wanted to get anime and manga fans excited about learning an ancient craft, where the slow burn of skill and effort grows beauty organically. I wanted to get stitchers excited about a new form of visual grammar. I wanted to show that trusting and revelling in your own creativity is far more fun than bootlegging someone else’s work. I wanted to overturn the artificial divisions between craft and art, smash the stereotypes that say otaku are all juvenile geeks and stitchers are all ladies of a certain age with a predilection for pastel cardigans.  I wanted to change a tiny part of the pattern of the world, one stitch at a time.

Now, that was more than a grandiose dream – it was a contract with a six-month deadline. I had to turn an idea into a working text that could be understood by people across two different art forms, and newcomers to both, as well as generating a mass of new designs, turning them into cross-stitch charts, and getting enough samples stitched for photography. “Be careful what you wish for” is a phrase that springs to mind, usually, as here, too late to be useful.

I was, of course, lucky to have an in-house designer of unusual quality in Steve Kyte, as well as a folder full of my own design ideas. I was also lucky in recruiting a wonderful team of stitchers from all over the world through the Cross-Stitching.com forum. So the next six months were a blur of charting new designs, sending charts and materials out to the sample stitchers, adjusting thanks to their feedback, and writing the text. It was hard work, and alongside my speaking work and pitching the next project, it meant twelve to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.

It was one of the best experiences of my writing life. Craft books have totally different demands than other non-fiction: clarity and brevity are everything, and the word is so totally subordinate to the image that they’re the BSDM of the writing world. I learned much in terms of focus and discipline. I also rediscovered how demanding and rewarding it is to lead one creative team while working with another – because while I was managing my stitching and writing schedule, I was also working with the Ilex team, making small contributions to the design, editorial and packaging processes.

A spread from the book

They suggested putting all the charts on a CD, so that the book could be used to showcase the ideas and methods I wanted to get across. They persuaded the designers of my chart software to let them put trial versions of both the Mac and PC editions on the CD as well. They also produced something that looks absolutely stunning.

Last week I led my first Manga Cross-Stitch workshops at the Japan Foundation. More workshops are planned at the Japanese Arts Festival in Richmond in a couple of weeks’ time. Hopefully the rest of the reviews will be good, and stitchers will enjoy using the book and sign up to the idea of unleashing their inner artist and creating their own works. If everything goes really well, the stash of design ideas for Manga Cross Stitch II: The Masterclass is already growing…

Traditional crafts are amazingly flexible instruments. Just before the book appeared, on 21 May 2009, The Sun newspaper ran an article headlined Why cross-stitch is achingly hip again, carrying pictures from a new range of kits inspired by urban street art. Textile and needle arts are refusing to be stuffed into any stereotypical closet. Stitchers wear their traditions proudly, but are not restricted by them.

Make something new. Shift perceptions, one stitch at a time.

Hearing that a friend had seen a copy of my new book Manga Cross-Stitch in the shop at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Friday reminded me that it was a while since I’d had a look around their website. There’s never enough time to keep up with all the interesting sites on the web, but theirs is one worth checking, especially if, like me, you love needlework and the history of dress.

The V&A blog discusses the research and conservation going on in their various departments. I’ve spent the past half hour catching up with the reproduction of a seventh-century Egyptian tunic and plans to reproduce costumes from the Bayeux Tapestry, plus the proposed Hollywood version of 1066 (I expect the Americans will win the battle) and the Museum’s objects and research reflecting  LGBTQ experiences and narratives.

Definitely worth a visit!

Yellow April Showers Pincushion in Vintage Tea Cup

 The bone china tea cup is from England with a yellow dogwood flower blossom and gold leaf accent. I have glued a quilted “puff” in various different yellow cotton fabrics accented with a yo yo & covered button.

100% of the sale proceeds will be donated to Etsy for Charity (EFC) Charity of the Month.

Lovely Lavender Tatted Cross Bookmark

Notes from the Artist:

This is lovely cross bookmark is hand tatted with a shuttle in lavender cotton thread.
Tatting is a needlework technique that dates to the early 19th century.
It is both durable and delicate, and will last for generations.

This bookmark measures 8 1/4″ long (tassel included) and 2 1/4″ wide.