Review: Sports Alphabets to Cross Stitch

This time of year is full of sports activities for kids, and if you like to personalize their bags — or anything else — in a crafty way you can combine their love of sports with your love of craft with a little help from Sports Alphabets to Cross Stitch.

This Leisure Arts booklet, with designs by Kristi Bryant, includes sports-themed alphabets for:

soccer
volleyball
bowling
golf
baseball
bouncy ball (yeah, I’m not sure, either)
tennis
basketball
hockey
football

The book also includes a design with football helmets, balls and stars, with room for words and the year to make a memory plaque. There’s also a sports-themed birth announcement, as well as blank charts for your own designs and a simple small alphabet should you want to combine the graphic images with regular text.

In many cases, as you can see in the samples on the cover, the balls cover up parts of the letters, so color choice will play a big role in your design’s readability. But these are definitely a fun starting off point for room decor, gifts for coaches and more.

The book is available as a paperback or downloadable PDF, both of which cost $9.99.

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31+ Cross Stitch Ideas For Teacher Appreciation Gifts

If you’re a fan of detailed and colorful cross stitch patterns, Design for Cross Stitch might have a pattern you want to try. This Etsy shop is based in Spain and has more than 50 designs with a focus on animals, holidays and landscapes.

I’m just going to start with the first pattern that caught my eye when I visited the site, which is this Sakura by the Lake project. This pattern is 200 by 200 stitches and the whole background is stitched, so it’s definitely not for a beginner, but it’s stunning and would be amazing to make for someone who loves Japan. Despite the detail it only uses 24 colors. Worked on 14 count fabric it will measure 14.64 inches, or 37.19 cm.

There are a few other landscape designs, including a canal in Venice and a few cabins in the woods.

The shop also has some cute animal cross stitch, with big, round faces and often holding a warm beverage. Holiday projects focus on Christmas and Halloween. Most of the patterns have a cute, chibi-like feel, but there are some that are more detailed and realistic as well. Take for examples the flower patterns, which are full of details and soft colors.

You’ll also find some fun bookmark cross stitch patterns with a watercolor feel, as well as some that look kind of like paint pouring turned into stitches.

If this sort of stuff sounds like fun to you, check out their Etsy store at Design for Cross Stitch.

Do you have a favorite cross stitch designer who I haven’t featured yet? Let me know in the comments or share more about them by clicking on “suggest a DIY” at the center top of the page and let me know the details. I’d love to share the designers you’re enjoying with a wider audience.

[Photo: Design for Cross Stitch]

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