As Jane Austen definitely did not write: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that if you love the novels of Jane Austen, then you will want to celebrate that in your cross stitch.” But I do, and I do.❤️📖

It could be the same for any book enthusiast, of course. Whether it’s crime, horror, romance, travel, history or adventure that you love to read about, if you’re also a stitcher, there is probably a suitable cross stitch pattern for you! Just search on Etsy and you may be surprised! Colourful or muted, classic or cartoon, character or caricature, book cover or relevant quotation, there are so many options to combine one’s love of a particular novel (or film, or TV show) with a cross stitch project. Maybe you will be stitching dragons or vampires, specific landscapes or even bloody daggers, but, personally, I will be carefully creating men in tailcoats and women in gowns.🙂🪡

I have created four Jane Austen novels (so far) in cross stitch and I began with my favourite – Persuasion.

The story of Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth is a moving tale of lost love, disappointment and difficult family relationships, followed by a new-found confidence for the heroine, leading to romance and happiness. When Captain Wentworth, towards the end of the book, declares his love for Anne in a letter, he writes: “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. I have loved none but you.” I think that is so beautifully expressed and poignant, and I love that it is the quote on my cross stitch pattern. As Anne’s dress was charted in shades of purple, I stitched my Persuasion project on lilac evenweave, which really made the dark greys of the Captain’s suit stand out. To fully finish my ornament, I twisted decorative cording in the two purple shades of Anne’s dress and stitched that around the edges. I love to see this little cross stitch hanging in my gallery on my craft room wall. It is a constant reminder of the sweetness of the characters’ relationship and their eventual happiness.

In the novel Emma, the relationship between Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley is fraught with mis-steps and misunderstandings, many of which are caused by Emma herself. In Austen’s novel, she sought to create a character that “no one but myself will like much”, and certainly Emma’s deliberate meddling in other people’s lives, her mis-placed confidence in her own opinions, and her inability to understand sensitive situations and relationships, initially makes her difficult to warm to. Mr Knightley, however, who has known Emma all her life, is not easily discouraged from loving her and, despite arguing and falling out a number of times during the novel, at the end he is finally able to tell her how he feels. Emma, who is so naturally demonstrative, assumes from his reticence that he doesn’t care for her – until he explains: “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” That’s the quotation on my Emma cross stitch design, and it is the perfect line from the novel to illustrate the relationship between the two characters. I stitched this project on an evenweave fabric called “Vintage Country Mocha”, which I chose because the colour and delicate mottled appearance reminded me of aged paper, which seemed very suitable for my theme.

My cross stitch celebration of Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility depicts Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars, although the novel’s focus is shared between Elinor and her sister Marianne – the “sensibility” to Elinor’s “sense”. For Austen, Elinor’s “sense” encompasses sound judgement, regulated emotions and reserve in her relationships with others, whereas Marianne’s “sensibility” signifies sensitivity, impulsiveness and an inclination for overwhelming emotional reactions to events and people: indeed, Marianne almost dies from the consequences of her heart-felt response to her rejection by Willoughby, her first love. Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars early in the novel but it is not until the very end that he returns and declares his own love for her. The quotation on my cross stitch is from this point in their relationship, when he gallops to the Dashwoods’ cottage to reveal to the undemonstrative and reserved Elinor that he has always loved her. This quotation has been voted the most romantic quotation from literature, film or TV drama, according to the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, so it is unsurprising that it was the choice for my Sense and Sensibility cross stitch! I chose pale green evenweave for this design, which matched Edward’s coat and highlighted the purple tones of Elinor’s dress, and the poignancy and simplicity of his Edward’s declaration of love is the perfect finishing touch.

Finally, my collection of Jane Austen cross stitches and accompanying novels wouldn’t be complete without perhaps her most famous and well-loved, Pride and Prejudice. In addition to the novel, Pride and Prejudice has been filmed and staged in countless versions, and I am a huge fan of the 2005 film, directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen as Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. My cross stitch features Elizabeth and Darcy, but the novel is also about the marriage fortunes of all five Bennet sisters because, as their father has no male heir, the house, land and income on which they all depend must pass to a distant (male) relative when he dies, leaving the sisters penniless if they do not marry. When Mr Darcy is first introduced to the Bennet sisters, Elizabeth finds him distant and haughty, and she overhears him dismissing her as “not handsome enough”. However, when he realises that his feelings have changed, he speaks of his love in beautiful, sincere lines, one of which is featured on my cross stitch. I felt that a bold colour fabric would work best for this project, since Elizabeth’s dress is creams and lemons, and I really love the black of Darcy’s jacket against the strong yellow of the fabric.

My Jane Austen cross stitch designs are by an Australian designer on Etsy called FangirlStitches, but there are many different styles and sizes of projects to select from if you are also keen to celebrate your love for these novels in cross stitch form. Finally, I cannot recommend enough stitching whilst listening to an audio book – and, of course, it would be a Jane Austen novel for me!