Review: Cute Kawaii Cross Stitch

Kawaii is a style that has taken over around the world, and it is found in lots of different crafting genres, too. Kawaii cross stitch patterns are usually small, colorful and have smiling faces to add to their adorableness.

Sosae and Dennis Caetano, the designers behind Trellis and Thyme, have collected more than 400 cute little cross stitch designs in their book Cute Kawaii Cross Stitch.

There’s a brief introduction to cross stitching at the beginning of the book, but it’s mostly about the patterns, which are organized into general themes (a few of the patterns included are listed just to give you a taste):

Fruits and veggies like watermelon, fig, banana, jalapeno, carrot, button mushroom, leek, strawberry and corn
Sweet treats such as a rootbeer float, banana split, gumball machine, frosted cupcake, doughnut, churros and a fudge sundae
Yummy food, which includes things like a blueberry muffin, soft-boiled egg, hamburger, burrito, Sriracha, salad, kimchi, shrimp cocktail and toast
In the kitchen, with such options as a teacup, blender, microwave, pitcher of juice, frying pan, mixer, wok and French press
Adorable animals like a narwahl, hedgehog, mouse, iguana, tiger, giraffe, guinea pig and unicorn
Spring themed designs such as a bluebird, potted fruit tree, tulip, watering can, chocolate bunny, wheelbarrow, rain boot, birdhouse and dragonfly
Summer projects like a sailboat, camper, roller skate, little island, crab, tent, grill, flamingo and lighthouse
Projects made for fall such as a pumpkin, bubbling cauldron, mushroom, apple pie, witch’s hat, smore, apple bushel, haunted house and a pumpkin spice latte, of course
Winter designs including a plum pudding, Christmas tree, sleigh, holiday sweater, snowman, a lightbulb-style ornament, snow globe and gingerbread man

Each design is charted in color and a key at the side of each page shows the DMC number for each color used. Each design also indicates the full size of the project (most are meant to fit into 3-inch hoops) and skill level. Patterns are raked easy, medium or advanced, but the more complicated ones mostly just use more colors, they’re not actually that hard to stitch.

If you love kawaii designs, little cross stitch patterns or stitching everyday and holiday objects, you’re sure to enjoy the array of projects found in Cute Kawaii Cross Stitch.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 400 patterns. Published 2023 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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40+ Christian Cross Stitch Patterns

The other day I shared some cross stitch patterns with ornaments on them, so this time around I wanted to share cross stitch patterns that you can use as ornaments. It would be fun to do a whole tree in your craft room with cross stitch ornaments, or just add a few to your tree or give them as gifts.

These little quilt inspired cross stitch patterns from Flamingo Toes look like ornaments and fit in 3-inch hoops, which are perfect for hanging on the tree or using to decorate a gift. I love the pastel colors on these but you can use more traditional Christmas colors if you like.

This cute Christmas tree from Lagodargetoshop uses a single color and fits in a 4-inch hoop, but you could make it smaller if you wanted by trimming the last ornaments and gifts from the sides, or just stitch the tree without any other embellishments. Either way it’s a cute addition to your holiday tree.

Stitched Modern has a super cute collection of retro Christmas ornament cross stitch patterns from designer Gera. This is a printed pattern that will be shipped to you. Each pattern is about 40 by 56 stitches, or 2.9 by 4 inches/7.4 by 10 cm on 14 count fabric. To work the whole set you’ll need 20 colors of floss.

These snowflake ornaments from Our Little Handmade Home are each about 2.5 inches/6.4 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric, and they use a single color of floss. They are pretty in red but you could also do white on a blue or black background, or whatever suits your other Christmas tree decorations!

From the description it sounds like this set of vintage style cross stitch characters is presented as one large chart, but the photo from Sampler Antique Stitch shows each of them stitched up as their own little ornament, so it gets included here. You’ll find Santa and snowmen in different poses in this cute collection.

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