• Home
  • Suggest A Craft
  • DIY Newsletter

Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

  • About CraftGossip
  • Our Network
    • Bath & Body Crafts
    • Candle Making Ideas
    • Crochet Ideas
    • Cross Stitch
    • Edible Crafts
    • Felting Patterns
    • Glass Art
    • Home & Garden Ideas
    • Indie Crafts
    • Jewelry Making
    • Kids Crafts
    • Knitting Patterns
    • Lesson Plans
    • Needlework
    • Party Ideas
    • Polymer Clay
    • Quilting Ideas
    • Recycled Crafts
    • Scrapbooking
    • Sewing Patterns
    • Card Making
    • DIY Weddings
    • Not Craft Ideas
  • Giveaways
  • Roundups
  • Store
  • Search

Designer Spotlight: Ecliptica Design

December 4, 2024 by Sarah White

If your taste in cross stitch patterns tends toward tiny Christmas cross stitch projects, then you need to know about Ecliptica Design on Etsy. This cross stitch shop based in Hungary specializes in patterns that fit in 3-inch hoops, with 22 of their 64 designs as of this writing being Christmas themed.

Neither small nor Christmas is all that they do, but they do a lot of that, so let’s get into it.

The 3-inch Christmas section includes lots of charming little designs for everything from Christmas trees to elf feet, hot chocolate to bells, winter scenes and gingerbread men.

One of my favorites is this little snow globe with a Christmas tree inside. At 24 by 29 stitches, it uses 11 colors and comes out to 2 by 2.4 inches or 5 by 6 cm on 14 count fabric. It’s perfect to put in a little hoop and make into a ornament or use as a greeting card.

In addition to the Christmas patterns, there are 3-inch designs on topics such as animals and nature, dogs and butterflies, as well as patterns for Easter and Halloween. There are 2-inch minis of birds and butterflies, as well as 7-inch hoops of butterflies (as well as one Easter design).

There is one Christmas pattern meant to go in an 8-inch hoop, and a few patterns labeled medium size that I think would work in an 8-inch hoop, too (I love these rain boots with sunflowers!).

In addition to purchasing patterns one at a time, there are a handful of Christmas themed bundles you can buy. Or you can make your own bundle and get 30 percent off when you buy three or more patterns at the same time.

Check out all of the goodies at Ecliptica Design on Etsy.

Do you have a favorite cross stitch designer you’d like me to feature? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Ecliptica Design]

Next Pattern:

  • 20 Snow Globe Cross-Stitch Patterns
«
»

Have you read?

How to Stitch with Variegated Floss

I love the look of variegated cross stitch floss and how it makes it possible to stitch with a variety of colors without changing thread, giving your project more depth and a more complex look without you having to do anything different.

Or at least not much different. I recently came across this blog post from The Copper Fox all about how to use variegated floss and it noted that many people would say it’s a good idea to complete a whole stitch (when you’re stitching whole cross stitches) with the floss before going on to the next stitch. Most of us stitch row by row, but of course if you do that with variegated yarn, it could change color along the way and you’ll end up with stitches that are half one color and half another color or a different shade.

Of course that makes total sense but I’d never thought about it.

The post includes swatches with different kinds of variegated threads to show the different between working stitch by stitch or row by row, and it doesn’t make a huge different over the small area shown but I can see how it might make a difference if you had really long rows or if you just want to make sure your stitches are a single color whenever possible.

In addition to this experiment, the post talks about other ways to work with multicolored floss, including deliberately mixing the colors among the strands of floss you are stitching with and stitching in a different order instead of right to left and top to bottom (or whatever direction you typically work) to get different effects from the thread.

It’s fun to geek out on this stuff because it can make a difference if you want to play with it, or you can just stitch on without giving it much thought, and both will give you good results.

Check out all the experiments at The Copper Fox.

Do you do anything different when you stitch with variegated floss? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: The Copper Fox]

Categories

Book Reviews Christmas Craft Businesses Craft Inspirations Craft News and Events Cross-Stitch Patterns & Charts Cross-Stitch Product Reviews Cross-Stitch Website Reviews Dogs & Cats Easter flowers Free Patterns Halloween More Cross Stitch Product Reviews spring Subversive Thanksgiving Tutorials and Patterns valentines day

RSS More Articles

  • Master the Art of a Perfectly-Fitting Wrap Skirt: A Must-Try Sewing Tutorial
  • 15 FREE Spring Titles – Pintables and SVG Cut Files
  • Make Your Knitting Machine Scarves Better
  • Free Tutorial – Economy Block Quilt
  • Free Pink Flower Granny Square Pattern
  • Cricut Error Code Guide: What That Beep Means And How to Fix It Fast
  • The Art of Embroidery Design: A Workshop for Developing Your Own Original Stitching
  • Plant Lovers, This DIY Pillow Project Is for You
  • Easy Dangle Earrings – Free Crochet Pattern
  • 9 FREE Mean Girls as Bratz Dolls Coloring Pages

Pick Your Blog

  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Quilting
  • Crochet
  • Home & Garden
  • Recycled Crafts
  • Scrapbooking
  • Card Making
  • Polymer Clay
  • Cross-Stitch
  • Edible Crafts
  • Felting
  • Glass Art
  • Indie Crafts
  • Kids Crafts
  • Jewelry Making
  • Lesson Plans
  • Needlework
  • Bath & Body
  • Party Ideas
  • Candle Making
  • DIY Weddings
  • Not Craft
  • Free Craft Projects

Copyright © 2025 · CraftGossip | Start Here | Contact Us | Link to Us | Your Editors | Privacy and affiliate policy