By Jennifer Sergent
Scripps Howard News Service
Dallas -- Crafts are becoming much more in tune with Generations X and Y than they are with the baby boom and little-old-lady set.
New products offer bold designs and funky materials. Papercraft products exhibited at this year's Hobby Industry Convention in Dallas featured metallic finishes and natural fibers woven into the paper, producing textured finishes.
One line of background papers for scrapbooks uses earth tone colors inspired by the five elements of feng shui -- earth, fire, water, wood and metal.
Michael Miller Fabrics is adapting its hip, colorful patterns for covers of scrapbooks and backgrounds on scrapbook pages. Its scrapbook offerings include retro designs with babies in spaceships and 1950s housewives.
Other mod patterns include a Tiki-themed "Aloha Kitty" and a pop-art, Warhol-inspired "Asian Fusion."
Asian proved to be a popular theme at the craft show, in everything from scrapbook papers adorned with Asian characters to fabrics to computer printouts on paper and fabric that can be pasted onto tee shirts or purses or made into magnets.
Amy Barickman, owner of the Vintage Workshop, introduced a new "Click and Craft" program with these printable images. Barickman, soon to be featured on a greeting-card making show on the DIY -- Do It Yourself network, displayed at the show several Asian prints on an old cigar box fashioned into a purse.
Michael Miller's design philosophy, according to co-owner Christine Osmers, "just depends on what the next new thing is.
"We do a lot of things that make us laugh and put smiles on our faces. We have a lot of young customers."
Needlecraft, from knitting to embroidery, remains big with the 20-something set. Magazines such as InStyle continue to report on the fad among celebrities.
A new line called Linea aims at that younger group, with a twist on embroidery that offers simple stitching designs to embellish anything from pillows to jean jackets.
And beading is making a comeback. Young people echoing their forebears from the '60s and '70s use beads and crystals in crochet and also stitched onto clothing.
"It's really emerged in the 'tweens for embellishing clothes, and for jewelry making," said Don Meyer, a spokesman for the Hobby Industry Association.
Linea, by needlework thread and accessory maker DMC, offers patterns such as leaves, paisleys and swirls, and "clean, Zen-inspired lines and shapes" to be stitched onto clothing, placemats, pillows or even purses. It arrives in stores in April.
"It's giving something fresh to the industry -- something new and fresh," said DMC's Priyanka Leffler. "It's bringing the young crowd in -- this makes (needlework) fashionable, savvy."
The move echoes similar trends on the Internet. The site sublimestitching.com offers hip designs as a reaction to embroidery's too-cute image, proclaiming, "Due to an overabundance of bunnies and smiling Holsteins, this simple hand-craft was being passed over by the newly enthusiastic needleworker. No more! Your search for cool craft patterns ends here."
The sites www.getcrafty.com and www.subversivecrossstitch.com give similar vibes. Getcrafty features a hanging, three-dimensional crochet skull for sale. Subversivecrossstitch sells cross-stitch patterns for messages that are mostly unprintable. "Kiss my Grits" and "What makes you think I care?" are two of the tamest.
Meyer of the Hobby Industry Association offers another reason why needlecraft is so popular among Gen X and Gen Yers: It's portable. Stitching and knitting projects are easy to stop and start, and to shove into a bag between sessions.
"It feeds into the fast-paced lifestyle people have these days," he said.
Former first lady Barbara Bush confirmed that in her speech to the craft convention in February. She described a needlepoint rug she made for her living room, having carted her work over "eight years, 17 countries and 36 states."
As for the benefits, she said, "It cures boredom and even loneliness. What's really nice is, in the end I've created a wonderful gift for a friend or a keepsake for myself."
On the Net:
Hobby Industry Association: www.hobby.org
Michael Miller Fabrics: www.michaelmiller.com
www.sublimestitching.com
www.getcrafty.com
www.subversivecrossstitch.com
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