Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint
Cross stitch this isn’t, but it could be if you want it to be.
I love the idea of taking copies of old photos and embellishing them with embroidery (or cross stitch) like Elise at a Beautiful Mess did.
It’s a really easy process that adds color to photos, as well as personality. This would be a fab idea for a birthday gift or just to add some color to your photo wall.
Would you try this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
[Photo: A Beautiful Mess.]
One of the fun things about cross stitch is all the different surfaces you can stitch on. Of course regular cross stitch fabric is the most common, you can stitch on anything with holes (and even sometimes on things without holes, if you use water soluble cross stitch fabric.
An option that has become more popular with the widespread availability of laser cutting machines is wooden blanks, which are often cut in shape to be bookmarks, holiday ornaments or other simple shapes. They can be keychains, picture frames or necklaces.
(While not wooden I even have a stitchable journal that I cross-stitched on.)
Stitching on wood or heavy card stock isn’t the same as stitching with regular cross stitch fabric, so Craft with Cartwright wrote a post about how best to work with these wooden blanks.
The main thing to know is that you don’t need a sharp needle because the holes are drilled. She also has tips on how to manage your thread (she recommends one strand of embroidery floss folded in half) and finish your project if you need help with that.
Check out the post at Craft with Cartwright for tons of tips and ideas for working with wooden blanks.
Ready to try it out for yourself? You can get rectangular pieces your could mount to a journal yourself from Toms New Old Things.
Fiore Designs has square blanks that come in different sizes and colors for your crafting needs. I am putting some stamp shaped blanks from Lunari Woods on my wish list (they also have gift tags in different sizes and colors).
You can get stitchable keychains from Millions of Stitches, circles from Geniuses of Wood, baubles from Pip and Chip and Christmas ornament shapes from Happy Stitching Time to name just a few.
Have you ever stitched on a wooden blank? I’d love to hear any tips you have!
[Photo: Craft with Cartwright]
Looking forward to trying this! I’m a genealogist/family historian with tons of old photos to embellish! I’m also always looking for new ways to present newly-discovered old photos to families I’m working for. Thanks for the great idea!