Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Review: Cross-Stitch to Calm

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Cross stitch is a calming activity, especially when the pattern you’re working is simple and suits your personal style. Leah Lintz says she likes to cross stitch as a means of stress relief, but a lot of the cutesy patterns that are out there just didn’t suit her style.

So she designed her own projects and has published a bunch of them in the book Cross-Stitch to Calm: Stitch and Destress with 40 Simple Patterns.

If you’re new to cross stitch, there’s a little bit of an introduction here that covers basic supplies, reading charts and getting started, stitching different kinds of stitches in different directions and an easy way to finish off projects.

The patterns are arranged into categories: creatures, nature (which would be more accurately called plants), symbols and words.

A lot of the patterns involve leaving stripes of fabric unstitched in the middle of the pattern, which makes them even faster to stitch. For example, the star on the cover is striped with red and blue, but the white stripes are just the fabric showing through. This same technique is used to stripe an elephant, giraffe, cat and cherries, to name just a few patterns where it is used.

Most of the projects only use one or two colors (in fact it looks like there are two patterns that use three colors, and one each that uses four or five) so they’re great for beginners. The charts are large and each project is also shown stitched.

There’s a pretty wide range of patterns, from a butterfly to a bonsai tree, ice cream cone to anchors. The words eat, family, home and smile are charted, and I will admit to giggling when I saw that the chart for home had the word separated onto two lines, but you can always work it all in one line if you’d rather.

This collection might be one you want to flip through before you decide to buy the book to make sure the patterns are your style, but there are a lot of fun options for a new cross stitcher to try.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 40 patterns. Published in 2016 by Interweave Press. Suggested retail price $18.99

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Labubu Cross Stitch Patterns

For some reason I missed out on the beginning of the Labubu trend (my teen isn’t into it) but now that I’m seeing it everywhere it seems like a good time to look into Labubu cross stitch patterns. 

These creepy cute little monsters show up in all sorts of cute outfits, which makes them fun to stitch for a Labubu lover of any age. 

In cross stitch the pink Labubu seems to show up the most often. You can stitch up this one with a slightly sinister face from MK Cross Stitch Shop. This one is 23 by 43 stitches and uses eight colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to 1.64 by 3.07 inches, or 4.17 by 7.8 cm. 

There’s also this fuzzy little monster from Alya Cross Stitch, which uses six colors on a project that’s 100 by 169 stitches. 

Or try this lovely little Labubu with a flower in its hair. This one is by Stitch Heart UA, and would be perfect for a little kid’s room or as a decoration for spring. It measures 93 by 128 stitches, which comes out to 6.6 by 92. inches/16.9 by 23.3 cm on 14 count fabric. It uses 17 colors and 5 blends.

If you want to just stitch the faces, I like this collection of Labubu heads to cross stitch in different pastel colors. This design from Stitched by Sophie AUS has 23 colors and measures 120 stitches square. That comes out to about 8.6 inches or 22 cm square on 14 count fabric. 

Or you can make a little collection of different characters with this set from Sampler Cross Stitch. Stitch one or stitch them all. Each one is 30 by 60 stitches, or 2.57 by 4.57 inches/6.5 by 11.6 cm. 

How about a Halloween themed Labubu? I love this one from Handiwork of Natalie, who also has some other themed Labubu cross stitch patterns. This one is 66 by 99 stitches and uses 12 colors. It suggests cross stitch fabric that’s 4.75 by 7 inches or 12 by 18 cm.