How to Cross Stitch on Paper

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]

Artmishka Cross Stitch is an Etsy shop based in Italy with lots of whimsical and colorful designs and an emphasis on animals, flowers and landscapes. Let’s take a closer look!

The animal section is by far the largest, and it includes everything from realistic birds to cartoony cats, a set of little chick ornaments for Easter and a blackwork butterfly, to name a few. There are little animals in clothes and scarves, and this sweet folk art style owl in modern colors.

This one (and lots of them, really, I think) was designed as nursery decor, and it calls for 10 colors, which you can of course change up to suit your decor, nursery or otherwise. The design is 95 by 95 stitches, which comes out to about 7 inches or 18 cm square on 14 count fabric or 28 count evenweave stitched over two strands.

Another large category is flowers, which includes birth month flower designs, flowers that look hand drawn and colored, floral wreaths with teapots and wedding floral cross stitch designs.

The sampler section includes a variety of small patterns, images with words, colorful geometric and floral designs, and a few holiday patterns. Christmas designs include stamps, Christmas trees, stocking, snowmen and a cute box of snowflake shaped Christmas cookies in a box with a mug of hot chocolate, to name a few designs.

There are also a fair number of designs in both the landscape and cottage categories. These include iconic landmarks and colorful sunsets, and buildings from beach houses to a mushroom cottage, book shop and a cottage with flowers bursting out of the roof. There’s also a section called girl, which has designs of a little girl in different outfits and situations and some other characters.

Other categories on the site with smaller numbers of patterns include boy designs, princesses, plants, hobby themed designs (sewing, knitting, baking), art and bookmarks. There are also a handful of cross stitch kits, all of the little girl character.

Check out all of the fun designs at Artmishka Cross Stitch.

[Photo: Artmishka Cross Stitch]

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