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]

Stitchissimo is an Etsy shop based in Bulgaria that has a heavy focus on bookmarks and cards, often with a religious spin, as well as adorable animal cross stitch patterns. Let’s take a closer look.

The biggest category in the shop (though not by much) is baby animals, and there are lots of cute options, from a horse to butterflies, a capybara to sea creatures, farm animals and more.

Since this is a year when ducks are really popular, here’s their duck cross stitch pattern, which is pretty representative of the style of these projects. This mini cross stitch design is just 27 by 33 stitches and it uses four colors, making it a great option for someone new to cross stitch (which all of the animals would be).

On 14 count fabric the design comes out to almost 2 by 2.4 inches, or 4.9 by 6 cm, so it would fit in a three or four inch hoop.

Coming in a close second is the bookmark section (there’s also a separate kids’ bible bookmark category), which includes a wide variety of projects often featuring flowers, fruit or some other image along with a quote from the bible. The kids’ section is the same, only with cute animals decorating them instead of flowers.

There’s also a large collection of Christmas and winter themed projects. Many have a religious bent such as nativity scenes and angels, but there are also snowmen, Christmas foods and winter scenes with cute animals.

Other categories include sentiments to stitch for greeting cards, spring and Easter themed projects and “boy decor” (mini cross stitch patterns of vehicles). Smaller categories include summer, autumn and the Fourth of July.

These projects are cute and colorful, and a lot of them are small, which makes them great for beginners. It’s an especially great place if you like religious themed projects and bookmarks.

Check out all the designs at Stitchissimo.

[Photo: Stitchissimo]

Have you read?