Cross-Stitch Like a Queen: 25 Fun and Fabulous Patterns Celebrating Drag and the LGBTQIA+ Community

By David Hastings

Get stitching with this first-of-its-kind collection of creative and colorful patterns inspired by drag queens, pride, and the LGBTQ+ community!

Cross-Stitch Like a Queen is a celebration of drag and queer culture, perfect for queens, kings, and everybody in between. Crafty queens and drag enthusiasts alike will love this book with twenty-five illustrated designs ranging from sexy pumps to iconic quotes. Plus, with an alphabet template and extra design elements, you can make your own custom cross-stitch patterns and personalized quotes. Patterns include:

 

• Nails, wig, and lipstick
• Crown and gown
• Disco ball
• “Not today, Satan"
• “Don't get bitter, just get better"
• Pride flag
• And much more!

This is not your grandma’s embroidery book! Perfect for fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and allies, this craft book is a celebration of the mantra “love is love.” Go forth and stitch!

 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ulysses Press
• Release date: Oct 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646042708

David Hastings

David Hastings is a designer and art director who moonlights as drag queen Dottie Salami after the sun sets on Brooklyn. As one half of the borough’s favorite drag duo, The Salami Sisters, he has been featured in Paper Magazine and can be found performing around town in sweaty bars and on festival stages alike, as well as at the sisters’ self-produced show, Meat Sweats.

Book preview

A BRIEF SASHAY INTO CROSS-STITCHING

HOW TO READ A CROSS-STITCH CHART

Cross-stitch patterns or charts are grids filled with squares, with each single square representing one cross-stitch. The squares are often filled with symbols and correspond to a certain color, so you never get confused about which color to stitch where. The pattern also features a color legend so you can translate the symbols into colored thread.

The charts in this book feature darker black lines on the grid, representing ten-by-ten squares. It can be helpful to draw these lines on your material with a pencil or washable pen.

It’s suggested to find the middle point in your pattern and fabric, and start cross-stitching from there.

PREPARING MATERIALS

To begin a cross-stitch piece, you will need several items:

14-count Aida fabric

Needle. Size 24 is recommended for 14-count Aida.

Thread, also called embroidery floss. Your pattern’s color legend will tell you which colors of DMC thread to purchase.

10-inch embroidery hoop

Pencil or pen

Ruler

MAKING YOUR FIRST STITCHES

Use 2 strands of floss and thread them through your needle. Bring your needle from the back side of the fabric through to the front, leaving a little less than an inch of thread on the back. Hold the tail with your finger so it doesn’t slip through.

Now pass your needle from front to back through the hole in the upper right of the square you’re working on. This will form the first line of the X of a cross-stitch.

Now bring your needle up through the hole in the lower right. Form the second line