Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Cross Stitch for Left-Handed People

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tips for doing cross stitch left handedAs a knitter, I know that there can be a big difference in how handcrafts work depending on which hand is dominant for you. My daughter is left-handed, too, so I have to think about this when I’m teaching her things, to not automatically show her the “right-handed way” to do things and to give her time and space to figure out how to do things most easily for her. Which should really be the goal regardless of who you are teaching, but that’s another issue.

She did some hand sewing earlier this week, though she hasn’t yet tried cross stitch, and the only difference I can see is that she holds the needle in her left hand and holds the fabric in her right.

I did some poking around on the Internet looking for information on left-handed cross stitch, and, as I suspected, there’s not really a difference other than how you hold the needle. While many stitchers start from the center of a chart, lefties might find it easier to start at the top left and work their way across from left to right and top to bottom.

Are you a left-handed cross stitcher? Is there anything else you find different or any tips that helped you when learning to stitch? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Strawberry Cross Stitch Patterns

My favorite thing about mid to late spring is local strawberries. Strawberries are fun as a graphic element, too, because they’re an interesting shape and cheerful color. Let’s stitch some strawberry cross stitch patterns.

Craft Club Co AU has this cute kind of retro strawberry pattern with a pink checkerboard background. The pattern pages doesn’t give a lot of details but it looks like is uses at least 7 colors and it says it will fit in an 8 by 10 frame when stitched on 14 count fabric.

For a classic farmhouse look, check out the strawberry pattern from Largodargento Shop. This one reminds me of little wild strawberries, and it has a bit of a mandala design with other geometric shapes.

Speaking of classics, you can also stitch a strawberry alphabet sampler from Curious Carrie Designs. It is 54 stitches square, which comes out to 3.86 inches or 9.8 cm square. It calls for 8 colors and was stitched on 32-count linen. Keep it flat or turn it into a biscornu stitched with flowers and bees.

This strawberry pincushion from The SubRosa Design is super sweet and of course could be framed instead of using it as a pincushion if you’d rather. This one is 93 stitches square, or about 5.3 inches/13.5 cm square stitched on 36 count linen as shown.

This graphic, slightly abstract strawberry design from Box and Fox is so much fun and would be great to have on your kitchen wall or in your breakfast area. It measures 98 by 141 stitches, which comes out to 7 by 10 inches or 17.78 by 25.58 cm on 14 count fabric. The design uses 6 colors.

Don’t let the mice get your strawberries! This oddly cute design from Tourmaline Pattern measures 95 by 94 stitches and uses 16 colors. I love the look of it on black fabric, because it really makes the mice and the flowers pop. On 14 count fabric this comes out to 6.7 inches or about 17 cm square.