About
Broida inspires mindful making through products, education, and community to support an increased adoption and appreciation for handwork and creativity. Our cross-stitch tools and workshops are developed with a design-conscious consumer in mind, with a fresh aesthetic and contemporary approach to help you make creations you want to keep.
About Cross-Stitch Embroidery
Cross-stitch is one of the oldest forms of embroidery, with evidence dating back to the Middle Ages. Creations were used not only for stitch practice but for education, with young women stitching the alphabet or bible verses to help them read and memorise scripture. It has crossed social classes and has been a pastime of those noble, rural, rich, and poor as a relaxing pastime and art form.
Cross-stitch follows a tiled pattern. You could call it a forebearer to the digital pixel. It utilises designs in the form of coloured grids and comprises mainly X-shaped stitches, giving it a geometric aesthetic. Most cross-stitch is done using coloured thread on woven fabric called Aida, which essentially has a built-in grid system to guide each stitch. Cross-stitch can seem simple, but it can be used as a medium to make an array of creative designs.
Mindful Making
Broida brings cross-stitch into the present day, emphasising contemporary elevated designs and the notion of mindful making. Cross-stitch has a repetition that slows you down and can bring you into a meditative flow state. Combined with the art of creativity, we believe this makes it hugely powerful. Especially in our screen immersed world of today, this simple craft allows you to immerse yourself with something tactile with the satisfaction of seeing your own creation come to life.
Our founder
Broida was founded by Briar Lloyd, a surface designer and materials innovator with a focus on textiles. Briar is a cross-stitch enthusiast. Dabbling in many creative crafts with her family growing up, she reconnected with cross-stitch in her late twenties when searching for an approachable, creative hobby. Briar found the simple repetitive technique allowed for both a creative outlet but, importantly, an easy mindful practice that helped her to relax and that she could take and do anywhere. Briar founded Broida with the hope to share this technique with others and create tools to enable the adoption of handwork in an approachable, fresh, contemporary style for the modern day.
