Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

A Cute Idea for a Cross-Stitched Scene

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I was poking around on Etsy recently, as I do, and I came across this cute little cross stitched scene made to go in a mint tin.

The one I saw was this seasonally appropriate ghost tin, but the designer, Murder Puffin, as of this writing has nearly 20 of these cute little projects, ranging from crytpids and aliens to gnomes and mermaids.

This is such a cute idea and would be a great way to present a tiny cross stitch world to a little kid or an older person who loves whimsy.

To go back to the ghost project in particular, this one uses 14 count fabric in black and white depending on the part of the project. It uses 23 colors and is sized to fit a regular Altoids tin. (Raise your hand if, like me, you’ve got a stack of these you’re sure you’ll find a project for some day? This just might be the project!)

On this project there is a nighttime graveyard scene that sits in the inside of the top of the tin, and a little skeleton in its coffin for the bottom. The ghost, its blanket and RIP pillow are all removable, and there’s a little piece for the top of the tin that says Beware. The skeleton and the ghost can be worked with glow in the dark embroidery floss to make them even creepier.

I love these little projects and all the details that are included, and it would be a super cute way to give a gift of cross stitch to someone. You could even still make it a little sewing kit or art kit (which is a classic Altoids tin reuse) but line the tin with cross stitch minis or other little designs. These would be fun to do for different holidays, too, and you could change out the display every month or with different holidays.

Don’t you just love it when random scrolling turns inspirational? What kind of cross stitch would you do in a mint tin?

[Photo: Murder Puffin]

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Seagull Cross Stitch Patterns

Summertime is beach time, which also means it’s seagull time. Let’s stitch up some of our favorite scavengers of the shore. 

This little seagull stamp from Easy Patterns Only is super cute and fun to stitch for any lover of the sea. At 23 by 27 stitches, it uses six colors and measures 1.64 by 1.93 inches or 4.17 by 4.9 cm on 14 count fabric. 

I also love this silly little seagull from Stitchissimo. This one is 24 by 35 stitches and uses five colors. On 14 count fabric it’s just 1.7 by 2.5 inches, or 4.4 by 6.4 cm. 

Go for a more traditional flying gull project with this one from Silverberry Designs. It uses six colors and measures 2.21 by 4.43 inches (5.6 by 11.3 cm) on 14 count fabric with a stitch count of 31 by 62. 

Use seagulls to share your love with this pattern from Yellow Birdie Stitches. Share it with the person you love more than a seagull loves chips (you could change it to fries pretty easily if you prefer the American term). It’s 63 by 60 stitches and uses 10 colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to 4.5 by 4.25 inches, or 11.4 by 10.9 cm. 

And speaking of fries, Happy Sloth Patterns offers this seagull with a face full of chips. It uses nine colors and is 60 by 49 stitches. On 14 count fabric that’s 4.3 by 3.5 inches, or 10.9 by 8.9 cm, which fits nicely in a six-inch hoop. 

Or stitch up some carousing gulls with this pattern from Non Stop Stitch. It looks like these seagulls are about to get into a fight! The design uses 22 colors and blends and measures 145 by 75 stitches. That’s 8.94 by 4.31 inches, or 22.7 by 10.95 cm on 14 count fabric. 

For a more stately seagull sailor, check out this pattern from Mansarda Cross Stitch. This one combines cross stitch and an embroidered background, though you could leave that out if you don’t do embroidery. It calls for 20 colors and one blend, and measures 83 by 88 stitches. The sample was worked on 56 count linen 1 over 2, but you can use regular Aida fabric if you prefer.