Charles Dickens Saying – Cross-Stitch

This is a repeat of a post from last year – I want to make sure you didn’t miss out! A beloved holiday tradition is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and whether you like to read the original, watch the Mikey or Muppet version, or participate in the local stage version, this free chart will allow you to create your own stitched version of Scrooge’s famous saying. Thanks to Feathers in the Nest blogger Jennifer Dalenberg for posting this free chart.

Be sure to visit her blog Feathers in the Nest for the full-size chart. (When I post about a free chart, you always want to visit the blog indicated for the full-size chart – the post here will be a thumbnail version at best. Here at Craft Gossip we always want to encourage you to visit the original post for more information about the free charts or tutorials we let you know about each day.)

Looking for more Christmas Cross Stitch patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

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20 Snow Globe Cross-Stitch Patterns

I’ll admit to not taking as much care as I should when finishing cross stitch projects. Just like blocking in knitting or crochet, taking the time to finish a cross stitch project right means it will look its best, whether you’re making it as a gift or to keep.

And when it comes to cross stitch, the best method for finishing is washing and pressing.

Kat and Catkin and Lillie makes the argument that you should always press your finished pieces, and wash them the vast majority of the time as well.

Washing of course will help if there is any visible dirt that got on the project while stitching, but it also helps remove oils and skin cells you can’t see but that can speed up damage to your project in the long run.

Washing and pressing also help remove creases from the hoop or from storing the project, and if you use heat-erasable marking pens to grid your fabric, this will remove any visible marks.

So we’ve got the why down, but what about the how?

Kat has a great step by step tutorial on how to wash your cross stitch projects and how to iron them safely. You probably have everything you need to do this, it just takes a bit of time to go through the process. It’s certainly worth it, though, if you’ve spent a lot of time on a project and are gifting it or framing it and want to show it off to its best.

Click over to the post at Catkin and Lillie for all the details, plus some really good thoughts on times when you might not want to wash a project and how to test the colorfastness of your threads so you’ll know if a project is safe to wash.

Do you wash and press your finished cross stitch projects? I’d love to hear all about your process!

[Photo: Catkin and Lillie]

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