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NOTORIOUSLY POLITICAL: NOTORIOUS NEEDLE
Notoriously Political
written by Dana Costa; photos courtesy of Sarah Vargas
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Notoriously PoliticalNotorious Needle’s Sarah Vargas Shares Why She’s Political Now... and What’s Next
ost of us, at least those living in the United States, have been living in a constant stream of political M ads and politically focused news for the last year or so.
Some people turn to stitching to escape the news of the world. Some people turn to stitching to express their frustrations.
Sarah Vargas puts herself in the second group.
“I am utterly enraged at what is happening in American politics these days - and I’m not alone,” Sarah said. “I am trying to use my patterns to spark the hard conversations. And to stay sane.”
Sarah is the creator behind Notorious Needle, a popular pattern designer and FlossTube personality. Started in 2018 as a tutorial blog, Notorious Needle has emerged as not only a great teacher, but a great educator.
While that may sound like the same thing, the nuances between them exist, although somewhat subtle. Sarah teaches cross-stitch techniques via her YouTube channel, taking stitchers step-bystep through tackling a new process (gridding) or a new method (stitch a pumpkin lately?). But she’s also an educator in the sense that she informs people about social issues and encourages them to explore the topics and think for themselves.
StitchLife featured Sarah’s political collection when she launched it earlier this year and commissioned her to create a voting pattern, released in September.
Notorious Needle patterns are not shy in their political leanings, nor is their creator. “I come from a long line of ornery women,” Sarah admitted.
But it’s not just one thing that motivates Sarah to express her views through her patterns. She feels that that there are so many challenges with the current U.S. administration.
“It boggles the mind!” she proclaimed. “I can understand how one flawed man could be so infatuated with his own self-interest that he would let the rest of the world rot (I used to be married to one of those, so it’s personal). What I can’t understand is how an entire political party is ok with that, so long as they stay in power. They can’t all
be sociopaths, can they? What is happening right now is not a mere difference of opinion. It’s a difference of morals.”
Her designs not only reflect her outrage, including her Traitor Trump set, but also her moral stance, such as the Rainbow Pride Heart set.
To Sarah, politics are personal. “While my mission is to empower people through self-expression with cross stitch, I don’t want it to end there. It can’t be enough to stab-stabstab and let that get out all the feels and then … nothing,” she said.
Though this craftivism—using your art to express social, political, or moral stances—is not new, it has become even more obvious in recent years. But, she admits, just stitching your views is not enough.
“The cross stitch is the fun part,” she said. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’ve got to march! We’ve got to vote!”
The big personalities in U.S. politics right now make craftivism a little easier and somewhat more universal.
“Let’s face it,” Sarah said, “big characters are easy to exploit. And they serve as a source of commonality between creators and their audience—most of us are familiar with those characters.”
Her patterns do like to poke fun at a person or a political stance, but they certainly are not meant to minimize the human condition. “While I do have several patterns in my shop right now that poke fun,” Sarah admitted, “I definitely prefer to laugh at the basic human condition. Humans are funny and weird, and we’re all alike in a lot of ways.”
She says that she hopes to focus more on this commonality in future patterns and collections…and focus on some less political topics.
“Don’t tell, but I’m more than halfway done with the next Notorious Needle collection and it’s not political at all!” Sarah teased.
In fact, at the end of October, Sarah will retire her Political Therapy collection to make way for this mysterious new collection.
“After the [U.S.] election [on November 3, 2020], I plan to revert back to more univer-
patterns from the Notorious Needle’s Quarantine and Political Therapy collections
sally snarky stuff like silly quotes about how you’d rather be stitching than doing the dishes,” she shared.
And good news for people who are outside the U.S. or don’t consider themselves political: She said she’d like to be less American-centric in future collections in order to speak to stitchers from London to Auckland… and everywhere in between.
“One of my customers on Etsy suggested some amazing British insults that her husband created,” Sarah said, “that I just have to get into a pattern!”
As for her other favorites, she admitted that her all-time favorite pattern, Fabulous Fred, the 3-D cross-stitch unicorn.
“He doesn’t seem to be anyone else’s favorite,” she chuckled.
Even so, she loves his gorgeous variegated mane and tail and “magical” twinkle in his eye. She even has been considering making Fabulous Fred some playmates.
“Maybe a mermaid or a dragon,” she mused. “Not sure yet.”
But the magical world of Fabulous Fred may have to wait because Sarah said she has other ideas up her sleeve right now.
One thing we hope doesn’t take a back burner is Sarah’s outreach to stitchers via her socials, especially FlossTube. She said that she loves helping people discover all that cross stitch can bring to someone: relaxation, creativity, and community.
She’s noticed more and more video stitch sessions, and even joins in. “I joined the StitchLife Stitch & Bitch for the first time and really enjoyed it—and recommend it to others!”
meet Fabulous Fred on the next page
here he is!
This growth in the number of stitchers and the surge in them connecting online has been a necessity in the new socially distanced society in which we live.
“It makes sense as we seek connections with each other from a distance,” Sarah said. “I hope the newbies stick with it!”
Sarah has graciously offered 15% of your purchase on either her website or her Etsy shop. Use StitchLife15 at checkout. Discount expires on November 15, 2020. Find Sarah and Notorious Needle on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook . You can also shop Notorious Needle patterns on Etsy and her website.
Want to join in the StitchLife Stitch & Bitch? Join us on Thursdays at 7pm ET/4pm PT using the link on Facebook.
Sarah made this special pattern for us in September. It comes with a full alphabet to personalize it with a word other than women! Download here!
Check out this political snark! Made especially for this issue, Sarah shows us her sense of humor...and creative talent. Download here!
