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How to Wash and Iron Your Cross Stitch Projects

February 20, 2024 by Sarah White

When you’re just making a small cross stitch project such as a bookmark, or something that is going to be displayed in a hoop, you don’t necessarily have to give a lot of thought to finishing it by washing or ironing the project.

Of course if you get it dirty, which can totally happen just from the oil on your hands or if you’re eating (or have pets) around your project, you’ll want to wash it no matter the size. But larger projects that are going to be framed in particular benefit from a little extra attention before you declare them finished.

Notorious Needle has good tips on how to wash your cross stitch, and, if you need to, how to iron it.

It’s actually not that different from how you might wash and block a knitting or crochet project, and it’s really important to do with those big projects even if it doesn’t look like you got grime on it. That’s because the oils from our hands and the skin cells that get on the project while we stitch can discolor the fabric and even deteriorate the fibers in the fabric or the floss.

Washing is also essential if you used any water-soluable ink pens on your project, or if the design was stamped on the cross stitch fabric before you started.

Once you’ve gotten it all clean, if you still find that there are creases where your hoop was holding the project, you can also iron it.

The key with both of these steps is to treat your project with care: use lukewarm water and gentle, clear soap, don’t wring it out aggressively, don’t put a hot iron directly onto your project.

These few steps might seem like a pain when you just want to be done, but they’ll take your project from done to finished and make sure it looks as good as all the work you put into it.

Click the links about to get all the details on how to finish your projects the best possible way.

[Photo: Notorious Needle]

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Designer Spotlight: Stitch with Coffee

Stitch with Coffee is an Etsy shop that is almost completely devoted to holiday designs, with the exception of a series of designs that feature the exploits of a tuxedo cat named Tuxey. It’s also almost completely devoted to cat designs, as we’ll see. 

Because I happen to own a tuxedo cat (her name is Haru) we definitely have to spend some time talking about those patterns Haru means spring, so it seems appropriate to share this one of the cat in a field of daisies. The pattern measures 91 by 52 stitches and is all full cross stitches with a little bit of backstitching. It doesn’t say how many colors are used but I think it’s six or seven. 

I love the look of it on this sage colored 28 count linen but you can use whatever you like. 

The largest category in the shop is for Halloween, and here, too, you’ll find a lot of cats (I also have a black cat so you know I love that, too). There are cats doing potions, a skeleton cat, Frankencat, Dracula cat, cats in pumpkins, a cat witch flying a broom and more. There are also some ghosts and other patterns that don’t involve cats, but I can’t stress enough that there are a lot of cats in this shop (maybe it should have been called Stitch with Cats instead of Stitch with Coffee!).

In the Christmas section there are still more cats: in sweaters, with antlers decorated with holiday lights, in stockings and a cat snowman. There are not Christmas patterns that don’t feature cats.

There are a couple of Valentine’s Day patterns that don’t feature cats, but they still predominate here. You get the idea. 

If you like cats every day of the year you’re sure to enjoy this shop. And if you like cats every month of the year, make sure you check out their calendar series, which features cats doing seasonal things like watching a snow globe, being a leprechaun and waving a flag surrounded by fireworks. 

Check out all their designs at Stitch with Coffee, and let me know if you see something that catches your eye!

[Photo: Stitch with Coffee]

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