Seasoned Cross Stitchers: What Do You Wish You Knew Starting Out?

I love to hear about crafts from the perspective of people who’ve been at it for a while, because they often learn things they wish they knew when they were first learning how to do that particular craft that are useful for newbies (and those with more experience) to think about or try for themselves.

In this case we’ve got a post/podcast episode from Hannah Hand Makes about seven things she wishes she knew before she started cross stitching. It’s worth a read for the full list because there are definitely things on there I haven’t considered or tried before (not that I’m all that seasoned when it comes to cross stitching, but still).

One that I do want to make special note of is that she says she wishes she knew big projects aren’t as frustrating as she thought they would be.

She says that she never thought she had the patience for big projects and that she would get bored before they were done, but it helps her to have some smaller projects on the go at the same time so she doesn’t have to work a big project straight through.

That’s good advice. I generally am only working one cross stitch project at a time and I know that I do get bored and set it aside, even when it’s not that big of a project!

Another one that probably goes hand in hand with stitching larger projects is realizing there are lots of different ways to finish cross stitch projects rather than just putting them all in hoops to display. Hoops are really cute (and I actually just wrote about a couple of ways to finish hoops for framing cross stitch) but you can use regular frames, turn your projects into pillows and lots of other things depending on the size of the finished project.

Check out all her thoughts at Hannah Hand Makes. I’d love to hear what you wish you knew when you were newer to stitching than you are now!

[Photo: Hannah Hand Makes]

Next Pattern:

Cross-Stich For Stress Relief - Unwinding And…

I’m primarily a knitter, and in the knitting world the “emotional support chicken” has been a big trend probably for a couple of years now (I don’t know how long something has to be popular before you can stop calling it a trend, but whatever).

There are chicken crochet patterns that are popular as well, and now I’ve found a cross stitch chicken pattern that might just become the newest iteration of the emotional support chicken theme.

The Funky Chickens pattern from Satsuma Street are three-dimensional, triangular chickens embellished with felt to make their facial features and tail feathers. The bodies include stripes, curves, speckles and other little designs to mark different parts of their bodies. They’re super cute and not any more difficult to stitch than any other pattern, though of course there’s more finishing than you would normally expect.

The pattern includes designs for three chickens, which are actually a rooster and two hens. The rooster is slightly larger, at 120 by 60 stitches, or 4 by 4 inches/10 cm when finished. The hens are 100 by 50 stitches and come out to 3.25 inches/8 cm when finished. These measurements are for stitching on 14 count fabric or 28 count over two.

The patterns use 13 colors, and if you want to make all three, one skein of each color will make all of them. In addition to your regular cross stitch supplies you’ll need three or four little pieces of felt of different colors to add all the details.

These chickens would be great to use as pincushions, or you could put something heavy in the bottom and use them as pattern weights if you do sewing. They’d also be fun gifts for anyone who likes chickens or needs a little emotional support if you explain it to them.

The pattern is available from Satsuma Street on Etsy.

[Photo: Satsuma Street]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?