Crass Stitch Club offers fresh – and we do mean fresh – take on Cross Stitch

The holiday season, for some, can be a time of creativity and gift giving – but it can also be a time of frustration. So, what better way to get your frustration out than a gift showcasing your creativity, and maybe a splash of the frustration as well?

That's the idea behind the Crass Stitch Club, an initiative launched this fall by the Aurora Public Library.

The Crass Stitch Club encourages you to showcase your creativity through the humble art of cross stitch – and, as the name suggests, a “crass” message is not only allowed, but encouraged for participants aged 18+.

The Club next meets December 19 from 7.30 – 8.30 p.m. in the Aurora Public Library's Creative Studio, under the direction of APL's Shelby Brown, who says the Library first began to brainstorm the program last year.

“In my home library, I've got a book called Maybe Swearing Will Help, a cross stitch book about swearing,” says Brown. “It's just more fun than what you would normally picture cross stitch as, like 19^th century women sitting by the fire waiting for their husbands to come home from war!

“The goal is to get like-minded stitchers or crafters and teach them cross stitch, as we've had a few people over the last couple of meetings where none of them knew how to cross stitch. Some people ask, ‘Can I bring my own cross stitch I'm working on?' Sure, it doesn't have to be crass, necessarily.”

But is it preferred?

“It's encouraged!” says Brown with a laugh. “The option is there. I had one lady do a ‘Don't F--- It Up' cross stitch; she had never done one before and she was having a hoot just writing the words onto the paper.”

Asked why “crass” appeals to cross stitchers, Brown says she “personally thinks swearing is funny a lot of the time” and it was important to underscore the Library “is not such an uptight, shush-y kind of place.”

“This is a drop-in program marketed at 18-plus members,” says Brown. “All skill levels are welcome. You don't have to come to every session; you can come once and take your pattern home, which a few people have done.'”

All materials are provided.

For more information, visit aurora.bibliocommons.com/events/66d3176cf520192f006045bb.

By Brock Weir