Survey says...
Katrina Werpetinski
Here's a bunch of preface stuff for the survey results.
First, thanks to everyone who added a "Thanks for all this work. I
can't wait to see the results!" message to their responses.
I didn't do anything with questions 4 and 5 (occupation and
education). I just don't know enough about those things to be able to
group them intelligently. If someone would like to manipulate the
information, I'd be glad to send you the responses to those two
questions.
Don't try to get the percentages to add up to 100%. Some don't due to
round off error. Some don't because people neglected to answer that
question. Some don't because folks split their vote (like the
hoop/bars/etc question).
"of us" translates to "of the 177 people who responded to the survey".
I did not intentionally slight anyone. If I accidently missed your
craft or favorite place to stitch or whatever, it was a goof, and I
apologize.
This probably isn't the best presentation of the results, but dammit,
Jim, I'm a chemical engineer, not a professional survey taker.
I've got a list of suggestions and questions to add if this is done
again. I'll post it later. I certainly learned a lot. Things aren't
nearly as black/white as I thought they were. :-)
So, I've got the survey done and two homework solutions written and
two sets of homework graded and an abstract written and prospective
graduate students hosted, do I get to go back to stitching now? :-)
Katrina
werp...@kira.ecs.umass.edu
=-=-=-=
177 folks responded. 170 (96%) were female. The youngest was 18 and
the oldest was 69.
The age distribution looked like this:
15-20 : 3 people
21-25 : 35
26-30 : 43
31-35 : 39
36-40 : 22
41-45 : 18
46-50 : 14
over 50: 3
21% were from outside the US. 15% were from California. 11% were
from Canada. (No, I'm not implying California is outside of the US. :-)
We had 1-2 folks from: Finland, Germany, Holland, Italy, Scotland,
Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan New
Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, West Virginia
3-5 from: England, New Zealand, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin
6-10 from: Australia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas
How long have we been stitching?
< 1 year : 5% of us
1-2 years : 11%
3-5 years : 13%
6-10 years : 19%
11-20 years: 31%
21-30 years: 7%
> 30 years : 2%
How long have we been reading the newsgroup?
< 1 month : 13% of us
1-5 months : 29%
6-12 months: 29% (includes "since the split from r.c.t." answers)
1-1.5 years: 18%
2-2.5 years: 5%
> 2.5 years: 4%
71% of us have posted to this or another rec.crafts group.
What other crafts do we do?
11% claim not to do any other crafts at all. 39% knit, 34% crochet,
31% sew, 20% quilt, 19% do needlepoint, 12% embroider.
1-2 of us do: bargello, blackwork, book restoration, bow making, cake
decorating, candlewicking, card-weaving, computer graphics,
cooking/baking, costuming, counted thread, decoupage, dolls, dollhouse
furniture, doughcraft, dream catchers, duplicate stitch, felt
applique, gardening, glass etching, inkle weaving, Japanese
embroidery, long stitch, macrame, metalworking, needlelace, origami,
or nue', painting (wood, plaster), paper mache', paper marbling,
pen-ink work, pottery, punch embroidery, punta in aria, quilling
(typo?), refinishing wood furniture, reverse painting on glass,
sculpting, silk painting, smocking, Swedish weaving, tapestry, tole
painting, woodburning, woodcarving,
3-5 do: basket weaving, bead making, bobbin lace, calligraphy, ceramics,
drawing, drawn/pulled thread, latch hooking, potpourri, rug hooking,
spinning, stained glass, stencilling, woodworking, wreaths
6-10 do: jewelry, plastic canvas, ribbon embroidery, rubber stamping,
weaving,
11-20 do: beading, crewel, fabric painting, flowers (dried, silk,
porcellan), hardanger, painting, tatting
How did we learn to stitch?
49% got help from the instructions on the pattern. 39% had some help
from a friend or relative. 7% used a book. 3% had a class. 6% wrote
in that they were selftaught. 2 folks learned in Girl Scouts and
another at a home party.
What things do we use when we stitch?
25% just stitch in hand. 47% use scroll bars. 38% use hoops. 27%
use q-snaps. 3% use stretcher bars. 27% use a floor or lap stand
with their bars/hoop/etc. 16% use a magnifier at least some of the
time.
Where do we stick our patterns?
37% keep it in their lap. 20% just have it next to them. 18% put it
on the table. 9% put it on the arm of the chair/couch. 5% hold it in
their hand or attach it to their bars/hoop/etc. 3% have a floor
stand. 3% stick it on a pillow.
39% of us mark off our pattern as we're going, at least some of the time.
Style?
31% use multiple needles for a given project.
32% railroad at least some of the time.
80% sign and/or date their pieces.
French knots?
82% of us can make French knots. 13% are actually crazy enough to
like/love making them. ;-) 20% don't like them, but another 15%
actually hate them.
What about our fabrics?
83% have stitched on at least 2 types of fabric.
13% don't have a fabric preference. 33% prefer aida. 44% prefer
linen/evenweave (67% of these specified linen in particular). The
other folks specified Belfast linen (4 people), Brussels linen (1),
Jobelan (1), Jubilee (2), and Lugana (8).
11% don't have a fabric-count preference.
14-count preferred: 27% of us
32-count : 17%
28-count : 12%
18-count : 10%
25-count : 4%
The rest were pretty evenly distributed amongst all the other counts
between 11- and 40-count.
16% of us have no color preference. 24% like white. 1% like anything
*but* white. Off-white, ivory, and antique white claimed another 26%.
16% go for creams. 14% like neutral and natural colors. The other
mentions were black (2 folks), blue (1), and light colors (2).
91% of us choose DMC floss, but often only because of the availability
and use by pattern makers. Anchor got 4 votes, Marlitt 1 and Kreinik
silk 1. 36% of us have all the DMC colors and 33% have most of them.
23% have a fair number of them. 8% don't have many or any. 45% have
some of the newest DMC shades.
28% have the sample card of the DMC colors and 17% have ordered the
insert for the new shades.
Where do we stitch?
The most common places are work/school (24%), in vehicles (18%), at
other people's homes (16%), while waiting (11%), and at gatherings of
stitchers (5%). But some folks often stitch in a bar, on a boat, at
the bowling alley, while camping, while travelling, when in meetings,
outside, at rehearsals, at tournaments, and while doing volunteer work.
Our favorite places to stitch when we can't be in the comfort of our
own homes are in other people's homes (14%), outside (1%), and
anywhere we can be with other stitcher's (8%). We still like to
stitch in bars, on boats, when camping, in vehicles, in the library,
at meetings, on vacation, while waiting, and while at work.
Do we do kits? 21% never use kits, but 2% do *all* their projects
from kits.
1- 9% of work from kits: 25% of us
10-30% : 32%
31-50% : 13%
75-90% : 3%
91-99% : 2%
Do we design our own work or at least make major changes? 37% of us
don't, but one person designs *all* her own stuff.
1- 9% of work self-designed: 17% of us
10-30% : 30%
31-60% : 10%
75-90% : 3%
91-99% : 2%
Do we give our work away? 7% of us give it all away and 2% keep it
all.
1- 9% of work given away: 3% of us
10-30% : 16%
31-70% : 25%
75-90% : 32%
91-99% : 13%
Do we do things other than framed works? 16% of us don't, but 2 people
never do anything framed.
1- 9% of work isn't a framed piece: 17% of us
10-30% : 41%
31-60% : 15%
65-90% : 7%
91-99% : <1%
11% have stitched for competition. 15% have sold a piece.
15% belong to a club or guild. 50% have a local stitch buddy.
How far have we gone?
For a needlework shop?
<10 miles away: 9% of us
10-20 miles : 23%
21-30 miles : 17%
31-40 miles : 7%
41-50 miles : 7%
51-100 miles : 15%
101-200 miles : 3%
200+ miles : 5%
For a needlework fair? 34% of us have gone to a fair.
<10 miles away: 15% of the 61 people who've gone to a fair
10-30 miles : 28%
31-50 miles : 6%
51-100 miles : 15%
101-200 miles : 15%
200-999 miles : 16%
1000+ miles : 6%
For a needlework class or conference? 35% of us have gone to a
class or conference.
<10 miles away: 21% of the 62 people who've gone to a fair
10-30 miles : 25%
31-50 miles : 4%
51-100 miles : 5%
101-200 miles : 11%
200-999 miles : 10%
1000+ miles : 5%
How many projects do we have that need framing? 22% of us are all
caught up on framing.
1-2 pieces needing framing: 34% of us
3-5 pieces : 24%
6-10 pieces : 10%
11-20 pieces : 1%
> 20 pieces : 2%
How many projects do we have partially stitched at the moment? 3% of
us don't have any.
1-2 pieces partially stitched: 34% of us
3-5 pieces : 42%
6-10 pieces : 15%
11-20 pieces : 3%
> 20 pieces : 2%
How many projects do we have that we haven't started?
0 pieces we haven't started : 2% of us
1-2 pieces : 10%
3-5 pieces : 14%
6-10 pieces : 19%
11-20 pieces : 14%
> 20 pieces : 37%
How many projects do we have that we haven't started but have all the
materials to start?
0 pieces we've got supplies for : 11% of us
1-2 pieces : 26%
3-5 pieces : 28%
6-10 pieces : 16%
11-20 pieces : 8%
> 20 pieces : 8%
Where do we buy things? 17% belong to mail order clubs.
24% of us buy most of our charts from chain stores. 64% buy from
independent shops. 11% shop from catalogs. 4% just design most of
their own. 6% get their patterns from magazines.
59% of us buy most of our fabric/floss from chain stores. 54% get it
from independent shops. 5% shop from catalog.
62% of us buy magazines at the newsstand.
What do we get delivered?
magazines catalogs
0 items : 45% of us 21% of us
1-2 of item : 32% 29%
3-5 : 16% 34%
6-10 : 4% 9%
> 10 : 0% 5%
How much do we spend? The majority of us don't even want to think
about it.
< $50/year : 2% of us
$50-100/year : 29%
$101-200/year : 17%
$201-300/year : 9%
$301-400/year : 4%
$401-500/year : 7%
$501-1000/year : 2%
> $1000/year : 6%
couldn't hazard a guess: 23%
Katrina Werpetinski
survey instead of trying to fit everything into one long post. I hope
that won't bother anyone.
The biggest thing that I learned from the survey is that people aren't
as rigid as I thought they were. I thought that folks who railroad
would do so on every project. I thought the folks who used q-snaps
would use them on all their projects (except maybe tiny ones). There
were a lot of "it depends on the project" answers. There were about
15% who had no fabric preference and about another 15% who just said
"linen/evenweave" which covers a *lot* of nonAida territory. I'm not
implying this is a *bad* thing. I think that it's fantastic that we
*aren't* rigid, that each piece is an artistic endeavor.
Another thing I noticed is that there were often no simple answers. I
think we all get a little excited when we're talking about our
needlework. Folks took the time to thank me for my efforts and also
to elaborate on some answers. I thought questions like "Do you use a
lap/floor stand?" or "Have you ever stitched on a fabric besides the
one you started on?" were simple yes/no questions, but they're not. A
number of people gave a no qualified with "but I will soon!" And the
reason most often cited for wanting to try something new? The other
folks in the newsgroup. I think we're good for each other. :-)
And then there was the enthusiasm about filling out a 56-question
survey that shocked me. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of
folks who responded. The instructions said to mail your answers "by
March 20th" which some folks took to mean "by end of day on March
19th". I got a couple of responses on the 20th that were practically
pleading with me to count their responses for "the newsgroup that
really counts" as one person put it. (Which I did since I had meant
"by end of day on March 20th").
More later.
Katrina
werp...@kira.ecs.umass.edu
P.S. My newsfeed has been really flaky the last few days so I'm only
getting a few of the posts from the group. I'm going through
withdrawal! I guess I should get around to reading the mail in my
mail box. :-)
Martha Beth Lewis
Will the person who wrote this to Katrina on the survey please stand up
so we can applaud! This is so beyond clever!!! Thanks a bunch!
Martha Beth, who really counts on this NG