Designer Spotlight: LilyMae Stitching

If you are looking for adorable cross stitch patterns for a baby or little one’s room, LilyMae Stitching on Etsy is a great place to start. From adorable animal alphabets (in regular and mini sizes!) to sweet little animals and a whole section just called “happy little patterns” (they are!), there is just so much cuteness in store.

Since I do love the happy little patterns, let’s take a closer look at this happy little blue balloon pattern. The design includes only full cross stitches and measures 61 by 95 stitches. On 14 count fabric that comes out to 4.375 by 6.75 inches, or 11.1 by 17.2 cm. It uses six colors, and despite being labelled a blue balloon it could absolutely be a pink, purple, green or any other color balloon that you would like it to be.

In addition to all the baby and little-kid-centric designs, there are a handful of Christmas cross stitch patterns (some religious, some not) and some sort of abstract, boho landscape designs.

There are also a few motivational quotes if that’s your thing.

But really a lot of the patterns are animals made into letter shapes, so if that’s a thing you’d like for a baby’s or kid’s room, definitely check those out. My kiddo’s name would be alligators and narwhals, which are pretty cute. You could also do initials if you don’t want to do a full name, or stitch the whole alphabet if you want to get really into it. You can buy the whole set as one bundle, or just buy the letters you need individually.

Check out all the cuteness at LilyMae Stitching.

Are you a cross stitch designer or do you have a favorite I haven’t featured yet? Let me know in the comments or fill out the form at the link at the top of the page that says “submit a DIY.”

[Photo: LilyMae Stitching]

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Baby Animal Cross Stitch Patterns

One of the most common problems that cross stitchers at all skill levels have is that the cross stitch fabric can start fraying while you stitch.

Beginner cross stitchers might wonder why this happens and if there is something they are doing wrong to cause it.

The reason cross stitch fabric frays is because it is a woven fabric, and the nature of any kind of woven fabric (whether that’s cross stitch fabric, a torn up towel or a piece of fabric you’re going to sew) is that it wants to fray.

It’s not necessarily a huge deal if you cross stitch fabric starts fraying mid-project if you have left a lot of extra fabric around your stitching. But if there’s not much fabric to spare in order to be able to finish the project the way you want, you’ll want to do something to stop the fraying.

When I was growing up I remember my mom using masking tape for this purpose, but it turns out there are lots of different things that you can do to stop your cross stitch fabric from fraying.

Craft with Cartwright came up with 15 different things that you can try, which seems like a lot, but that just means you have lots of different things you can try.

If you don’t want to buy something, you can stitch along the edges. If you already have supplies like tape or glue, or access to pinking shears or a serger, there are lots of options you can try.

Some of these are more permanent than others, so it will depend a little bit on how you want to finish your cross stitch project as to which is the best choice for you. It’s a great idea to read through the whole list just so you can have them in the back of yoru mind the next time you start a project and think about how you would like to protect it.

You can find the whole list at Craft with Cartwright.

How do you like to stop fraying on your cross stitch projects? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo: Craft with Cartwright]

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