Cross-Stitch

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Fun Ideas for Personalized Cross Stitch Gifts

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It’s gift giving season, and it can be fun to make gifts for others, whether cross stitched or otherwise. I have a huge cross stitch project I’ve been “working” on for my daughter that is definitely not going to be ready for Christmas. Her birthday is in September, so maybe it will be done by then? One can hope. 

Gift cross stitch projects don’t have to be a big undertaking, of course, and even small patterns can be made more special by adding some personalization. 

Lord Libidan recently shared a few ideas for personalized cross stitch projects that you can try if you’re wanting to stitch gifts for people (and whether you should/who is worthy of a cross stitch gift is a topic for another post). 

With all the cross stitch alphabets available out there — or you could design your own — it’s easy to add a name, date, or other things to other cross stitch projects. And of course a lot of projects already have customization built in such as cross stitch patterns for weddings, births and graduations. 

But you can also add personalization to a sampler project that doesn’t typically call for it, or add special words or a name to other projects like stitched Christmas ornaments or bookmarks. 

The post also looks at cross stitch projects that are more literally personalized such as cross stitch portraits or stitching the house of someone who might have just moved. You could also do a map cross stitch with hearts where the person is from or places they have lived, or just add text to a project related to a fandom or favorite thing of the person. 

Check out the post at Lord Libidan for more inspiration. I’d love to know if you make personalized cross stitch gifts for people and what you have done in the past. 

[Image by Anna Prosekova from Pixabay] 

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Cross Stitch Ice Cream and Frozen Treats

Summer is the time for sweet treats, whether eating them or stitching them. This collection of patterns is full of designs that are good enough to eat. Almost. 

This year of ice creams from Simone Balman Art is lots of fun, and you could also stitch up these treats individually if you’d rather. The full piece is 210 by 300 stitches, though it’s not full coverage. It uses 25 colors and comes out to 13.6 by 20.1 inches, or 34.5 by 51.2 cm, as shown on 14 count fabric. 

These mini Popsicles from Mariana Gonclaves ART as super sweet and quick to stitch. These would also be a fun border to another summer project. The full design is 43 by 46 stitches, which is 3.1 by 3.3 inches, or 7.8 by 8.3 cm, on 14 count fabric. 

Sam X Stitch has this fun sweet treat sampler, which again would be fun to stitch as individual pieces (maybe on napkins?). In all it calls for 18 colors and measures 153 by 153 stitches. That comes out to 10.93 inches or 27.75 cm on 14 count fabric. 

Another great sampler is this one with ice cream and other sweet treats from Cute Patterns by Maria. At 119 by 132 stitches total, working the full pattern would be about 8.6 by 9.4 inches, or 22 by 24 cm on 14 count fabric, and it uses 33 colors. You can also stitch individual designs, which range in height from 35 to 45 stitches, and in width from 11 to 28. 

This collection of four sundae patterns from Stichrovia would be fun to make for a kitchen or a teen’s room. Each pattern is around 40 by 50 stitches, so they should fit in a four or five inch hoop if worked on 14 count fabric. 

Or stitch up one of the treats from Stitch Chart Studio‘s collection of seven ice cream cross stitch patterns. These range in size and in number of colors needed, but most would fit in a five or six in hoop (and one in a four inch hoop).