Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

A Cross-Stitched Insult, Monty Python Style

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monty python cross stitch

When I was a teenager I loved Monty Python. And I had a group of friends who loved, it, too. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was our favorite, we could recite it, some even acted out part of it as part of the school talent show one year.

So I was delighted to find this cross-stitch pattern inspired by the movie.

Your father smelt of elderberries is a classic Python insult, perfectly immortalized in stitching by Pia Thomas. The tutorial provides a good step-by-step on prepping a project and mounting it for display as well, so it’s a great project for geeky beginners or those who’ve made a few projects before.

[Photo: Pia Thomas.]

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How to Add Text to a Cross Stitch Project

One of the easiest ways to make a cross stitch project more personal is to add text to it. Whether you’re adding the names of people getting married to a generic floral cross stitch design, birth information to a project on theme with the new baby’s room or just adding a word or phrase that’s meaningful to you, adding words to cross stitch projects make them that much more special. 

But if you’re not working with a project that already has text built in, or you want to change the text that’s there, that can feel a little daunting. 

Caterpillar Cross Stitch has a great guide to adding names and words (as well as numbers) to projects, which talks you through what to consider and how to actually go about adding text to a cross stitch project successfully. 

You’ll need to think about what kind of font you want to use and if you’re using back stitched letters or larger filled letters, how much space you need and how the letters work together in the text you’re planning to make sure it’s readable. 

Their post includes common pitfalls such as running out a space or ending up with text that’s off center and how to avoid them (spoiler: chart out your text before you stitch!). 

The whole post is really helpful if you’ve never added lettering to a project before and don’t know where to start. I like to use block letters in back stitch when learning how to add text to cross stitch, but of course there are tons of lettering options. Check out this collection of cross stitch fonts if you want to see some different things you can try. 

And head over to Caterpillar Cross Stitch to get more tips for how to successfully add lettering to your cross stitch projects. They also have their own alphabet and number charts you can buy to add text to your stitching. 

Have you ever added text to a cross stitch project? I’d love to hear how it went!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]