The Leith Bowling Club rooms in Duke St, Dunedin, were swarming with more than 60 embroiderers at the weekend as the Otago Embroiderers Guild staged its latest all-day stitching session.
The Otago guild had 150 members and its monthly meetings remained popular, organisers said.
Guild president Margaret Kennedy said a few members had temporarily suspended their membership because of financial pressures, but the guild remained in good heart.
Many guild members were on fixed incomes, and adverse currency exchange-rate changes had added to the cost of importing embroidery-related materials from Europe, Mrs Kennedy said.
At the guild's annual exhibition last year, 174 embroidery works had been displayed; an increase on the previous year, but many of the items were smaller than usual, probably reflecting the need to economise with costly materials.
Large embroidery works involving considerable use of linen and costly materials, including sizeable frames and high-quality glass, could cost many hundreds of dollars to create, she said in an interview.
Among a series of specialist presentations at Saturday's five-hour guild meeting, was one on embroidery book-making by tutor Eunice McLeod.
Mrs McLeod showed how a small book with an embroidered cover could be used to provide a "mini sampler", with samples of the craft displayed on each page.
Embroidered books could also make fine gifts, and could be used for a wide range of purposes, including to display family photographs, she said.
Mrs Kennedy said artistic skills and an embroiderer's time could transform even relatively humble materials into "something exquisitely beautiful".
Guild members Carol Montgomery and Marion Caffell were both well aware of the need to contain embroidery costs.
"I definitely think people are a lot more cost-conscious now," Mrs Caffell said.
She had recently been using materials at hand, rather than buying new supplies.
Mrs Kennedy said the Otago guild was well placed to help its members deal with financial challenges, including through "Arkwright tables" provided at the monthly meetings.
Embroidery materials and supplies no longer needed by some members could be bought by others from the tables for as little as 50c.
Embroidery was also "a very social sort of activity", providing plenty of companionship and good ideas, even in tough times, she said.
