About

home•sick: adjective, experiencing a longing for one's home during a period of absence from it; home•sick•ness: noun, a feeling of nostalgia - a sentimentality for a time or place with happy personal associations.

What does a Kiwi girl do to find comfort when she lives thousands of miles away from home? Why, she stitches, of course! And so the story of home♥stitch♥ness began…

Cross Stitch Designer Jenny Van De Wiele

Hello! My name is Jenny and I was born and raised in New Zealand. I have lived in the United States for the past 15 years with my American husband and our three children. I was taught to cross stitch when I was 8 years old by my aunt and it has been my favourite craft ever since. 

The inspiration to design New Zealand themed cross stitch patterns came to me in 2008 after my husband and I returned to the USA after a 6 month stay in NZ. I was missing home and, as always, had several little cross stitch projects on the go. It was around this time when I realised that many of the foundational themes cross stitch designs and samplers feature – homes, native flora and fauna, seasonal and patriotic themes and the celebration of faith, family and friends – could be translated into characteristically New Zealand designs. And so, I started sketching a few ideas down on paper... drawing upon New Zealand’s rich heritage, beauty and unique way of life. 

The journey towards publishing my own cross stitch designs was a long work in progress that took place around the births of our children. There have been many more sketches made since those first few in 2008 and countless hours spent stitching late at night! As my audience around the world has grown, so has my range of designs and subject matter. In 2016 I began working on design commissions for The World of Cross Stitching magazine, which has been the most wonderful experience! I am blessed to be able to work from home while still being present for our growing children.

All those years ago, after much contemplation, I finally settled upon a name for this little venture on a day when I was feeling particularly homesick. I made up the word 'home-stitch-ness' as a play on the emotion, as I find cross stitch to be very therapeutic. Whenever I stitch, it comforts me and somehow I feel closer to home in my heart. When I searched online for ‘homestitchness’ to see if the name had ever been used before, the search engine found no results and simply asked - ‘Did you mean: homesickness?’... and so the name was confirmed! ;o)

Thank you for taking an interest in my work. I hope you will enjoy stitching my designs as much as I have enjoyed creating them - I love sharing your finishes, so you are more than welcome to send me a photo of your home♥stitch♥ness project!

Jenny x

Cross Stitch Designer