One of the crafts I want to try more of this year is embroidery on paper. It’s a fun way to add texture to a collage or just make a picture funnier or more interesting. I have this idea of trying to embroider on a canvas I’ve painted, but I don’t know if I’ll take it taht far.
For our purposes, doing cross stitch on paper is a fun way to make greeting cards or something to add to other projects.
There are a few different options when it comes to cross-stitching on paper. The first is to buy and use perforated paper made for cross stitch. This paper is heavy weight and I have seen it in 14 count and 18 count varieties.
You can stitch on the paper pretty much the same way you would stitch on fabric, but check out this post from Catkin and Lillie for more details on how to stitch on perforated paper, how to finish projects you make with it and what to use them for.
They also have a conversation hearts cross-stitch pattern in their free pattern section (scroll to the bottom) that was made to use on perforated paper if you want to practice.
Another option is to use heavy weight paper and add your own holes to stitch in. Stitched Modern has a simple little house cross stitch pattern that they use as a tutorial for how to stitch on paper. In this case you’ll print out the pattern and use the image as a guideline to form your holes.
In this case you’re literally stitching on top of the pattern, but you can also print the pattern out on thinner paper and use it as a guide for where to put your holes (or just measure and draw a faint grid on the back of your paper so you can evenly space your holes) and then stitch the design from there.
Have you ever done cross stitch on paper? I’d love to hear about it!
[Photos via Catkin and Lillie and Stitched Modern]
