Cross-Stitch

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Make Stitching Big Charts Easier by Gridding Your Fabric

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how to grid cross stitch fabric

This is a super brilliant thing to do if you are working on a large cross stitch project and getting a little lost or your stitches aren’t ending up quite where they are supposed to be.

When working from a large chart you can make grid lines on your cross-stitch fabric and on your chart, which makes it so much easier to find where you are in the pattern and where your stitches need to go as you are working.

Peacock and Fig has a full tutorial on how to do this. I feel like this makes it a little easier to work without having to be completely focused at every moment; just pay attention to the section of the grid that you are on.

Have you ever gridded your cross stitch fabric, or do you like to live dangerously? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Peacock and Fig.]

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Have you read?

Designer Spotlight: Haunted Frames

Cute spooky and fantasy cross stitch patterns is how the designer behind Haunted Frames describes their shop, and I have to agree with them. These designs are cute and Gothic and a little bit spooky all at once. There’s a heavy focus on book themes, which you know I am a fan of, so let’s get into it. 

Stopping first in the books section, there are lots of designs that are literally on book shapes, but if you know my love of both books and cats, you’ll know I had to share the Midnight Book Cart cross stitch pattern. As the name suggests it’s a design with a witchy book cart, complete with a spiderweb, bats flying out of a book and what it describes as a ghost cat (though I would have to make a black cat instead of a white one since I have a black cat, and that fits with the vibe). 

The design is 65 by 97 stitches and is worked in 17 colors. It’s shown on 16 count fabric, which makes it 4.1 by 6.1 inches, or 10.3 by 15.4 cm. 

I also love the winter themed little free library design, which would be perfect to stitch up for the little librarian in your life (or to drop at a neighborhood book space). 

Projects with a book theme make up the majority of the patterns that are categorized in this shop, but you’ll want to scroll through all their patterns to see what else is available, since it doesn’t look like everything is in a category. You’ll find castles and dragons, more cats of course, some more obviously Halloween and Christmas themed projects and those that would suit for spooky season or any other time of year. 

If cute and dark is your aesthetic, you’ll want to check out all the patterns at www.etsy.com/shop/HauntedFrames, which you can find on Etsy. 

[Photo: Haunted Frames]