Cross-Stitch

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Cross-Stitch Basics: How to Clean Cross Stitch

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Despite our best efforts while we are working on a project, our cross-stitched objects sometimes get a little dirty.

Prevention can help a lot: always wash your hands before you stitch, don’t eat and stitch (or drink colored/sugary liquids), store your project out of reach of childrens/pets/other people who might accidentally get it dirty while you’re working on it.

How to keep your cross-stitch project clean.

But washing a cross-stitch project before you finish and frame it is a good idea even if there aren’t visible stains on it.

If you’re familiar with hand washing laundry, it’s a pretty simple process, outlined in a little more detail at Tiny Modernist. Use dish soap or your favorite wool wash/hand wash detergent and lukewarm water.

Allow the piece to soak for about 15 if there are no visible stains that need to be treated. Drain the water, then gently rinse (or fill the sink with clear water and put the project back in to rinse off the remaining soap), press between two towels to get most of the water out, then lie flat on a towel to dry the rest of the way.

What if you do have stains? Check out the tips on About.com Laundry for a good process for dealing with stains and cleaning vintage cross-stitch projects.

Do you wash your cross-stitch projects? I’d love to know how you do it.

[Photo by Raquel Philips, via Flickr.]

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Back to School Cross Stitch Patterns

Back to school time is right around the corner where I live as I write this, and school-themed cross stitch patterns are super cute to make as a teacher gift or to personalize something like a pencil bag or backpack tag. 

This school supply cross stitch design from 7StitchesTN is meant to be horizontal, but I think you could turn the letters the other direction (or not) and make this into a bookmark. It can also be repeated to make a border around a project. As shown it is 64 by 30 stitches, which is 6.7 by 2.1 inches/17.1 by 5.4 cm on 14 count fabric. It uses 15 colors. 

Italia Print has a little set of school themed cross stitch patterns you can make as a single design as shown, or use individual patterns on different projects. The full design is 76 by 66 stitches, which is about 5.4 by 4.7 inches, or 13.8 by 12 cm, and it uses 18 colors. 

Speaking of designs that can be worked separately, there’s also this pattern from Bella Rose Craft, which could easily be divided into its different parts or you could use some of the pieces as a border on another project. The full design is shown in a 4-inch hoop and measures 2.71 by 2.64 inches/6.8 by 6.7 cm on 14 count fabric. 

This lovely set of teacher themed cross stitch patterns would be lovely to make as a teacher gift at the beginning or end of the year or for the holidays. From The Stitch Patterns, it is a set of five designs that includes books, flowers blooming from a book, a tulip, pencil cup and pencil drawing a heart. Each one is about 7 inches/17.78 cm square. 

This cute class in session design from Plaid Online would be another cute one to make for a teacher. It uses seven colors (including black for the back stitching on the ruler) and is about 2 inches/5.08 cm square.

And Craft with Cartwright has this funny and cute worm and apples design that would be cute for back to school. It uses seven colors and is 78 by 52 stitches, or 5.5 by 3.7 inches/14.15 by 9.43 cm on 14 count fabric. The apples by themselves would be cute on a project, too.