Patterns to Use as Filler in Cross Stitch Projects

The other day I came across this post from Koekoek that has to do with a world map pattern of theirs (they also have individual countries if you’d rather). The idea is that you can fill in countries as you visit them, or just fill in different patterns to make a colorful map.

To help people wanting to fill in their maps in different ways, they posted a collection of 10 filler cross stitch patterns. These designs include things like diagonal lines, evenly spaced single stitches, checkerboards and rectangles that can help you fill a lot of space without just making a solid color or stripes.

It struck me that these design ideas would be fun to incorporate into other cross stitch projects, too.

For example you could use any of them to make a background around a cross stitch motif to make the pattern a little more dramatic or just to draw in more color.

You could use them to fill large letters, say if you were doing a monogram or an initial letter pattern for a baby’s room or a wedding.

If you stitch people in your projects you could add these designs to clothing to make them more interesting.

You could just practice these filler stitches to get used to reading and following cross stitch patterns and turn them into bookmarks, coasters or other little projects.

I’m sure there are other ways you could use them as well, and if you have some in mind I’d love to hear them.

I think this just goes to show that if you’re creative you can pull elements from different patterns and projects and use them in different ways than originally intended but still to great effect.

You can check out all of the patterns at the post on Koekoek, and maybe they’ll inspire you to try adding filler to a project you’re working on!

[Photo: Koekoek]

The cross stitcher behind the blog Sirious Stitches is quite into biscornu.

If you’re not, a quick primer: biscornu are three-dimensional cross-stitched objects with eight points, often with an indention in the middle that makes them look a bit like doughnuts without the hole. They can be just about any size and subject you can think of. They’re often used as pincushions but can also be seasonal decor or just decoration for any time of year.

I’ve got a collection of biscornu cross stitch patterns here.

Once you’ve stitched one or several (they are a little addicting) you might wonder what you can add to them to make them even more extra.

It very much depends on the design of your biscornu and the look you are going for, but Sirious Stitches has a great post all about some of the options you might consider.

I don’t want to give you the whole list because you need to go visit and see all of their great biscornu they’ve stitched, but one really easy thing that you can do with a lot of designs is take advantage of that center indent by adding a button, beads, silk flower or another embellishment.

This is great to do just with a basic button from your stash that coordinates with the design and colors of the cross stitching, but it’s extra fun if you have a button that’s on theme, such as a leaf for a fall biscornu or a flower shaped button for a floral design. Add a jingle bell to a Christmas pattern, or a charm if you don’t have a button that coordinates.

Just this one idea is sure to get you thinking about ways to embellish biscornu (not to mention other cross stitch projects) but head over to Sirious Stitches to see all of their ideas for embellishing biscornu to make these already fun projects even more fun.

Have you ever made biscornu? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

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