Subversive Cross Stitch: 50 F*cking Clever Designs for Your Sassy Side

by Julie Jackson

Julie Jackson is back and more subversive than ever! This new anniversary edition of her classic  Subversive Cross Stitch  celebrates more than 10 years of delightfully snarky, in-your-face cross stitch with 50 full-color patterns including 17 brand-new designs, such as “Don’t Be Such A Baby” and “Cheer Up, Loser.”

Subversive Cross Stitch: 50 F*cking Clever Designs For Your Sassy Side  invites stitchers of all levels to fully express their bad-ass crafty selves, whether they need to release their inner curmudgeon or let fly with a witty insult. With alphabet charts and easy-to-follow instructions for every design,  Subversive Cross Stitch: 50 F*cking Clever Designs For Your Sassy Side  includes everything you need to get your craft on from the original instigator of subversive stitching.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction, Reference, Humor

120 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 2015

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that will appeal to newbies (like me) and experienced cross stitch hands, giving a fresh take on the quaint and delicate craft that has long been subject to cute teddy bears, delicate borders and precious feel good sayings. Jackson turns this on its head, adding profanity and humour to the craft, appealing the darker side of current stitchers and attracting new stitchers into the cross stitch world. Besrt of all, she includes a few alphabet charts and tips on how to modify existing designs and kits to really put your own stamp on your cross stitch, something that I have recently started to struggle with when trying to find patterns that suit my tastes. So if you're easily offended this is clearly not the book for you but if you like a bit of colour in your crafts then this is definitely a book you need to pick up.

[S. Wigget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. This should be called "Snarky Cross Stitch" at best--or "Snarky Empathy-Challenged Asshole Cross Stitch" or "Snarky Empathy-Challenged Midwestern Asshole Cross Stitch" if you want to be blunter. It has a very few saying that I like, and it's not my idea of subversive--far from it. I much much prefer _Feminist Cross Stitch_ (I've done most of its designs) and _Really Cross Stitch: For When You Just Want to Stab Something A Lot_.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a lovely confluence of an old hobby (profanity) and a new one (cross-stitching). Easy, useful directions, delightful photos and just a smidge of cynicism.

Precious frilly bookmarks and Lucite coasters and angels ... it was just too much sweetness in one place. It needed to be messed with. [...] I found one of those really ornate kits that come with an alphabet so you can stitch in your name and wedding date. (I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my dental X-rays hanging on my wall.)

Too fucking right.

[Bee Ostrowsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subversive my butt, half of these would sell like hotcakes to the Live Laugh Love crowd.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A flawless classic!

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a cross-stitcher; I just picked up this book because I thought it looked like it would be funny, and it was.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for a laugh, giggle, and snort. A few of the statements really resonated with me. The style of the samplers was too simple and too traditional to work as projects for me. I'd prefer something more historical and ornate that then had a subversive message in it, or something really modern and funky. Also needed more variety in fonts. I'd love a good gothic font for some of the simpler statements. Gave me some good ideas though, so it might inspire me to design my own.

[Laurla2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

i enjoyed this.

"bad language is a pure and harmless pleasure. the reckless smashing of a taboo without hurting a fly" - barbara holland.

had patterns for:
-because fuck you thats why
-beeyatch (with two bees)
-bite me
-chill the fuck out
-fuck you very much
-go fuck yourself
-happy fucking holidays
-suck it up
-you can't make me
-also contains 3 alphabets
-you suck

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the designs in this book. I have never laughed so hard at a craft book!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically just 12 different ways to use the F-word. I was hoping for more clever and insulting sayings, but it's just a little mean stuff that isn't very funny.

[Jen K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having recently read "Really Cross Stitch", and the Goodreads review of that book, I was very eager to read this as some reviewers claimed the designs to be more complex. I don't really agree, however, and I didn't find this book quite as amusing, although that is obviously personal taste. What bothered me more about this book though was the anti-breast feeding comments under the second design showcased. (I had my husband read the box to be sure I wasn't misinterpreting and he immediately responded with an "Oh F you" statement of his own). Great table of contents, basic instructions and alphabet charts though and overall nice simple designs.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basic Premise: Hilarious and inappropriate cross stitch designs.

These designs are simple, but clever. Moreover, in the back of the book are several alphabets intended to allow stitchers to create their own snarky sayings. One of the things that really impressed me about these patterns is how pretty the borders are around the designs. They really are lovely, which adds to the humor of the sayings within. I'm really looking forward to stitching these.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

I used portions of the designs to create wordless and quite lovely pendants for my mom and mother-in-law. The author gives clear instructions/patterns with DMC numbers for 50 different designs (!!), plus four font charts at the end. So nice of her to share so freely!

I look forward to making a full "I Love You Even When You're a Pain in the Ass" from her base "This Place Sucks" pattern for my mom. :P

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to have a good sense of humor with this book. Some very creative cross stitch patterns that you can tweak and use as you need. Plus they have a pretty pattern. Definitely recommend that you check it out to see if there is one or two (or five in my case) that catch your eye. Its a good mix of patterns (and some even if stitching swear words is not your thing).

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not nearly as groundbreaking as the author's first book. I was expecting so much more, like an ENTIRE book of new designs. Was that too much to ask? It appears. Still clever, but more familiar. I guess I'm a bit disappointed. Of the 50 designs, only 17 are new. Most of the border designs and fonts are simple and I think all the designs here are doable for even the newest of beginners.

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very American, so a lot of the sayings might not work for an international audience, but the designs are cleanly laid out and easy enough for beginners. There are also some alphabets provided so you can make your own.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that taught me not to buy cross stitch books without browsing them first if possible. I like many of this author’s designs and have made a couple of the ones on her website, but the ones in this book don’t appeal to me that much.

[Giselle Scotdeerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It made me laugh. And it made me realize I'm not alone in these sentiments.

While this is for cross-stitch, my intent is to use it for beading since the charts for cross-stitch are essentially the same charts used for loom beading.

My one fervent desire is that future editions will include sources and/or instructions for all those marvelous little frames that elequently put the exclamation point on each sentiment.

[Amanda Ressler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute cross stitch patterns.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I cannot wait to get started on these designs and appreciate all the tips for new cross-stitchers.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun ones in here, but nothing that really made me lol or made me want to start a new project.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its time to try out a new hobby!

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, quick overview of basic techniques with a nice collection of fonts and borders so you can tailor pieces to your liking, mix and match, etcetera. This is a good idea generating book.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having loved the first Subversive Cross Stitch book, I was really excited for more new designs - and the 17 new ones included in this installment don't disappoint. However, since all 33 original patterns were included as well, a lot of it felt like a repeat for me. I would have loved to see more new versus old patterns in this one, but perhaps there are only so many ways you can use the word fuck in cross stitch without it getting stale? I still really enjoyed this book and would suggest it to anyone who loves swearing and loves crafts. If you missed the first book, definitely pick this one up!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The snarkiness of this short collection of nasty cross stitch designs is awesome! And the patterns look easy to follow, so you could quickly whip up any of these, should you so desire. (Warning: there's explicit language throughout, so if that offends you, this isn't for you.)

[Chuck Knudsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty sassy stuff, for cross stitch. I don't really know what I expected, but it's largely a collection of patterns for cross stitched swear words.

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and these ideas, and I super love that there are patterns for each, including a bunch of alphabets in the back. This book brought me joy and got my creative juices flowing for sure.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun! Great ideas for cross stitch designs that are anti-cute!

[(Mellifluous Grant) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! Totally found my new passed time!

[Lindsey Rojem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of hilarious and snarky Cross-Stitch patterns and I am so excited to get started!