Make Tiny Cross Stitch Magnets

I’ve been trying to come up with some different ways to use cross stitch this year, and one of the things I wanted to try was making cross stitch magnets.

I had the idea to use bottle caps as the base for the magnets because I’ve made a few magnets of that size before. Also we happen to have a lot of those little button magnets, which are the perfect size to go on the back of a bottle cap so you can’t see it on the other side.

I figure out that you get a space of about 10 by 10 stitches using 14 count fabric, which is plenty of space for a tiny bit of cross stitch. If you have any minis that little you can use whatever design you like, or grab some graph paper and design your own.

In the blog post linked below I also have a few simple designs I used on mine, including a heart, star, smiley face and square. You could stitch out an initial (or do the whole alphabet to make your own alphabet magnets amazingly adorable), make emojis, tiny flowers, whatever you like.

Check out this post on mini Christmas cross stitch patterns or this one on Easter minis for more ideas of things that might fit in a tiny space.

Each one of these takes just a few minutes to make and they’re a great handmade addition to your magnet board or fridge.

You can get the full photo tutorial over at Our Daily Craft. There’s also a video that walks you through the entire process if you need or want more details.

Would you make mini cross stitch magnets? What sort of tiny design would you like to stitch on one of these little projects? Or how else would you make a magnet that incorporates cross stitch? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Most of the cross stitch projects I make are pretty small and not something I would consider heirloom quality (though I am working on a big project for my daughter that I hope to have done for her high school graduation in two years that I hope is something she’ll want to keep forever, but that’s another story).

But it is definitely possible to cross stitch projects that will stay around for generations, and one prime example of that is a cross-stitched linen tablecloth.

Linen tablecloths are classic, while stitching one can be a big project, depending on the size of your table, it doesn’t have to be really complicated.

Koekoek has a good, detailed post about figuring out how much linen you would need to make a tablecloth that you can cross stitch and/or embroider on (they also sell tablecloth linen in their shop if you don’t already have some or a linen tablecloth you already use). Of course for a project like this you’d want the best fabric you can find and afford, because you’ll be stitching it for a long time and hopefully using it for years.

The post walks through how to measure your table and determine how much fabric you’ll need including the drop you’ll want and hems. It includes the math for rectangular and square tables as well as circular tables, which helps take the guesswork out of buying fabric. It also talks about preparing the fabric and making mitered corners if you have a square or rectangular table, which will help the tablecloth sit nicely on your table.

The tutorial doesn’t include specific patterns to use for your tablecloth, but it does advise keeping it simple because this is a really big project. You can start with a motif in the center or doing borders, and this is a project you can add to through the years by, say, stitching a symbol for each family member or adding names, wedding dates, etc. and making it a real record of your family.

Would you ever cross stitch a tablecloth or have you done so? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Koekoek]

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