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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Seasoned Cross Stitchers: What Do You Wish You Knew…

Project bags are not a necessity when it comes to cross stitch, or any other craft. But if you’re traveling with your cross stitch, or you want to keep things clean/organized/away from kids or pets, using project bags is a great idea.

Of course any kind of bag can be a project bag, from a zip top bag to a reusable shopping bag. I like to use the plastic zipper bags that sheets come in as project bags, especially for longer term storage of projects in hibernation because it keeps them clean and dust free but also allows me to see what’s in there.

Sirious Stitches has a very comprehensive post covering various options that they and other people in their community use for project bags and storage.

Probably the best thing about it is as it goes through the different kinds of bags there are links to tutorials if you want to make your own (because we’re mostly all multi-crafters, right?) and also places that you can buy bags if you’d rather go that route. You’ll find projects for a clear vinyl pencil pouch perfect for storing bobbined thread, large square pouches, vinyl square pouches, flat bottom pouches with zippers, folio cases with large pockets, bobbin pockets and multi-fold cases.

The point of all that research was that Siri wanted a new project bag, so you can click through to see not only all of these project options but what they ultimately made and how it’s working. It’s a really lovely project bag that makes me a little jealous on behalf of my projects that mostly just sit on my desk (or in a plastic shopping bag, ugh) while I’m working on them.

Do you have a favorite project bag? I’d love to hear about it. And be sure to check out the post at Sirious Stitches.

[Photo: Sirious Stiches]

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