Passover Cross Stitch Patterns

It’s been a few years since I tried to find Passover cross stitch patterns (I did find one that said it was for Passover all those years ago!) and it turns out there are a few more options available now than there used to be. Because the Seder is such an important part of Passover, it’s no surprise these patterns have to do with the meal.

Works by ABC on Etsy has matching cross-stitch patterns for a matzo cover and an Afikoman bag. The matzo design (which comes with an option for spelling it matzah if you’d rather) is shown worked on a linen napkin, and the Afikoman bag is made with 36 count linen. They each use a single color of embroidery floss and would be great to have as a set for your table.

Sew Marie Studio also has coordinating matzo cover and Afikoman bag patterns, which are more detailed and include Hebrew text (the word matzo and the parts of the Seder, respectively. The patterns include instructions for how to finish your cover or bag if you need them.

GSI Productions has another option for a stitched Afikoman bag, which includes a Star of David and words in Hebrew related to the Passover Seder. It measures 101 by 143 stitches, or about 7.21 by 10.21 inches 18.3 by 29.5 centimeters, not including the extra fabric outside the border as shown.

This one just made me laugh so I couldn’t resist sharing. If you’re looking for a gift for your Seder host this year, stitch up a towel for washing hands from Judaic Needle. The design was made to fit on a purchased towel with a strip ready made for cross stitch, but you could also use linen to make a towel. This towel can be used for Seder or Shabbat, or for everyday use.

Next Pattern:

How to Make a Cross Stitch Pattern into a Bag

I have not done a lot of big cross stitch projects, but sometimes even with small projects it can be hard to decide exactly where to begin and how to work through the chart if you’re working with multiple colors. The general categories for the possible methods are known as cross country and parking.

Cross country means that you’re working one color at a time, moving around the chart (or the section of the chart you’re working on) until you’re done with that color. Parking means you’re working in a smaller section and doing all the colors in that area, “parking” the threads by leaving them attached to the canvas but out of the way while you finish each section.

Royal Rows is a specific way of parking named by Alison Royal, which is explored in detail on a post on Stitching Daily.

The idea is that you’re working one “tower” of stitches at a time (she uses a section of 10 stitches across by 20 down, but you can do whatever makes sense to you). You work all the stitches of a color at a time, starting at the top left and working your way down. When you’re done with a color you can park it where needed in the section below your current tower (known as the dungeon) or in the “east tower,” which is the section to the right.

There’s also a specific way of dealing with thread ends when you’re done with a color. This is a super simplified version (head to the blog post at Stitching Daily to get all the details) but the basic idea is that you’re working from left to right and top to bottom across the work, parking the threads in the next section when you’re done with them and systematically choosing which color to work with next.

The whole idea of parking is kind of overwhelming to me though I will admit that it makes a lot of sense. I guess I need to try it on a smallish big project and see how it goes. Do you use the parking method of cross stitch? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Stitching Daily]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?