Reasons to Love Small Cross Stitch Designs

This post is inspired by a post I saw over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch about why small cross stitch patterns are great, but I can tell you my own stories of cross stitching woes, too.

I have always been a fan of small projects because I just don’t have that much stamina when it comes to cross stitch (or much else). I feel like an hour of knitting or crocheting gets you a lot more to show for your time than an hour of cross stitch, especially when you’re working on a complicated project.

Which is why a project I started for my daughter probably more than a year ago is still unrecognizable as its subject because I’ve barely done any work on it. (I’d like it to be done either for her birthday in September or for Christmas, so I’d better get over my big-project issues and get to stitching.)

The post covers a lot of reasons to love small projects, including that they are light on your budget (both monetary and time wise). It also looks at the basic supplies you need for projects big or small and gives you lots of ideas for how to use small cross stitch projects as decor or to make into gifts.

There are also tips for success when working on small projects. You might think it’s fine to rush but attention to detail is super important when you’re working on a small scale because a misplaced stitch or two can really make a difference when there are relatively few stitches in your project to start with.

Check out the post over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch, and let me know what you love about small cross stitch patterns. Or if you’re a fan of the epic projects, let me know that, too. Maybe you’ll convince me to give it more of a try!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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]

Have you read?