Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Make a Cross-Stitch Kit for Travel or a Gift

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how to make a travel cross stitch kitI love this idea for making a cross-stitch/embroidery travel kit from Akamatra. She was traveling and wanted to be able to take her threads with her without having to carry full skeins.

It’s a really simple process to wind some thread off onto a piece of paperboard. You could probably also use index cards trimmed down; check the tutorial for the full details of what she did and how.

I think this would be a great idea for a holiday gift, too, if you wanted to give someone a cross stitch project and share enough supplies to get them started but maybe not whole skeins of thread if you aren’t sure they’re going to keep stitching (or if you’re gifting out of your stash and don’t have whole skeins to spare).

How do you travel with stitching? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo via Akamatra.]

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Have you read?

Easy Ways to Make Your Cross Stitch Better

The post over at The Crafty Mummy has the click-baity title of “Is there a right or wrong way to cross stitch?” Of course the answer is no. As with any other craft, as long as you are happy with the results you’re doing it right and no one should try to convince you otherwise.

That said, there are things that you can do to make your cross stitch a little better if you aren’t totally happy with the way your projects are looking. They might not be considered the “right way,” but they are important things to think about and if you want to deviate from these “rules” at least you’ll know that you’re doing it.

You can head over there to read all the tips, but it’s things like making sure your stitches are all going in the same direction (meaning you stitch the bottom legs of a row all in the same direction, then work back and stitch all the top legs in the same direction). You wouldn’t think something like that would make a huge difference until you don’t do it and then you can’t unsee it.

Most of things things aren’t rules so much as they are reminders to be consistent in what you are doing as you work a project. So however you start doing things like stitch direction or the number of strands of floss (I might even add using a hoop versus not, since the hoop can stretch the fabric and change the tension of the stitches a bit) you should continue in that way throughout the project in order for it to look its best.

Head over to The Crafty Mummy to read the rest of her list, then come back here if you have something to add. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: The Crafty Mummy]