How to Make a Cross Stitch Banner

I grew up Catholic, and I remember when we did our first communion each child had a banner with their name and some religious symbols or other things on it, and for some reason that’s what this cross stitch banner project reminded me of.

Your cross stitch banner doesn’t have to go on display in a church or anywhere else out in public. Depending on the content of the stitching you’re turning into a banner, it would be super cute in a kid’s bedroom or playroom, or even in your office.

Hannah Hand Makes used a large stitchalong project to make her banner. You could do that (I love the idea of a Halloween or Christmas themed stitchalong being hung in this way as part of your decorations), or you could use a sampler project or even combine a bunch of patterns of similar sizes together to make a piece big enough to be a banner.

And really, just because this one is kind of large doesn’t mean yours has to be. A little cross stitch banner with a child’s name on it would be adorable hanging from their doorknob or above the light switch in their room. And talking of having a banner in your office, I envision a merit badge style banner with a bit of snark (like: survived another meeting that should have been an email).

Clearly there are a lot of different options here, and the instructions Hannah gives for how to make a banner out of a cross stitch project will work no matter what size project you’re working on. A giant temperature cross stitch? A bunting full of minis? Your wedding announcement or baby’s birth announcement? All are fair game.

Check out the tutorial for how to make your own cross stitch banner at Hannah Hand Makes.

[Photo: Hannah Hand Makes]

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35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

The designs from Bella Rose Craft look like they would be good for beginner cross stitchers and others who like relatively simple and small designs that are quick to finish for gifts or decor.

I’ll mention up front that this Etsy shop based in Indiana has no organization whatsoever. There are two categories: kits and patterns. So it’s a bit of a treasure hunt to find what you might be interested in.

As mentioned there are lots of minis and small looking projects with simple lines and minimal colors. There are holiday projects, animals, summer motifs like palm trees and beach umbrellas, a bathtub with a rubber duck, some text based designs (like hoppy spring and merry and bright), some biblical and religious designs, flowers, bunting and more.

On a site like this its difficult to pick something representative of the whole page, but I liked this bees and beehive design, so it’s the one I picked to share. This one illustrates a lot of my general points about the patterns from this shop. It’s small (2.79 by 2.57 inches, or about 7 by 6.5 cm on 14 count fabric), it looks like it’s all whole cross stitches and probably uses only six colors, and a couple of colors are only used for a handful of stitches.

Of the 300 plus cross stitch patterns available as of this writing, 140 are also available as cross stitch kits. These would be great to give as gifts if you’re trying to get someone interested in cross stitching. The kits include the pattern, fabric and floss, and you can choose to have it include a needle or not. The hoop is not included but the patterns explain what kind of hoop is shown if you want to get one to match.

So if you’re looking for cute, beginner friendly patterns for yourself or you’re trying to be a crafty enabler for someone else, check out Bella Rose Craft on Etsy.

[Photo: Bella Rose Craft]

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