Designer Spotlight: Teeny Weeny XStitch

I have mentioned recently that I want to take on a large cross-stitch project this year, but the truth is most of the time I am drawn to projects on the other side of the size spectrum.

Tiny things are cute, and they’re quicker to make, so you can make more of them. Minis can be stitched up sampler style, added to bookmarks, made into pins or used in all sorts of other ways.

If you’re a fan of wee stitching, let me introduce you to Teeny Weeny XStitch on Etsy.

Designer Lior Zochovizky offers collections of little projects including seasonal designs, geeky stuff, sea animals, Greek gods and goddesses and more.

There are dinosaurs doing Christmas stuff. Animals in space. Seashells, science symbols and creepy cryptids.

You can also buy many of the patterns not as bundles, but if you’re getting one little design, why not get a bunch? There are also options for bundles than include 60+ patterns, and you can buy the whole shop in one bundle if you like minis even more than I do or just really want to support this designer.

One project of theirs I really wanted to point out is the magic potions temperature stitchalong. This project includes different styles of bottles lined up on shelves, and you can change up the style as you like and make the color of the potion the temperature it was each day where you live. (If you’re reading this around the time I posted it you still have time to catch up of the year! And of course these are minis so the whole year shouldn’t take that long, or you can do it for a special year in the past like when you got married or a child was born, etc.)

The full design is 180 by 300 stitches, which comes out to 12.9 by 31.4 inches, or 32.7 by 54.4 cm, on 14-count fabric (use 16 or 18 to make it smaller if you want). The number of colors varies depending on how granular you want to get and the range of temps where you live, but it can be up to 44 colors.

[Photo: Teeny Weeny XStitch]

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25 Christmas Bookmark Cross-stitch Patterns

If you like repeating cross stitch designs, borders you can use on other projects or as bookmarks, florals and Japanese-inspired designs, you’ll want to check out 200 Japanese Cross Stitch Designs by Saeko Endo. This collection of 200 cross stitch charts is low on instruction but big on inspiration for those who are comfortable taking a chart and running with it.

The book includes a brief introduction to the needed supplies and basics of stitching, but mostly is just photographs of finished designs and the charts that go with them. The charts vary widely in size and there can be anywhere from one to six charts printed on a single page.

Many of the designs are repeating patterns, but the chart shows a larger version so you can see how the repeats go together. Each chart has marked what portion is repeating and how many stitches and rows it includes. Other than that the charts are not numbered, but there are darker lines every five rows to help you count.

The patterns all range from one to three colors, and some include half cross stitches or back stitching, but most are full stitches.

The book is arranged into categories of motifs: geometric patterns, retro patterns, traditional Japanese patterns, floral and fauna and borders and pictorial motifs.

My favorites are the Japanese designs, many of which are recognizable from woodcuts, kimono designs and traditional shashiko embroidery. You’ll find cherry blossoms, suns, knots, and simple line designs that would be lots of fun to stitch.

There are a few pages devoted to different ways to modify charts such as changing colors, changing the way to design is repeated, flipping and rotating designs.

Other than that you’re on your own for how you actually want to use these designs. Of course they can just be stitched and framed but it might have been nice to see some of the projects stitched and staged in a way you might use them in everyday life (repeating motifs as coasters, or a bigger design turned into a pillow, for example).

Sometimes it helps to see designs used in different ways to get you thinking about how you might use them yourself. If you don’t need that creative push, this is a fine book full of patterns you’ll have fun playing with in different ways.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 200 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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