Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

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

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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]

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Cross Stitch Patterns Fit for a Pool Party

I don’t know why it still surprises me that there are cross stitch patterns available for almost anything you can think of. I wasn’t looking for pool themed cross stitch patterns, but in scrolling around Etsy looking more generally for summer cross stitch patterns, I found a lot of pool patterns so I figured I should share them.

I love the colors in these designs, almost as cool as sliding into the pool on a hot day.

The first one I found was Pool Party by Milky Stitch. It features someone lounging in the pool, someone lounging next to the pool, and some fun accessories you might need for a day at the pool. It uses 20 colors and was designed for 11 count fabric, which means it comes out to 12.2 by 8.2 inches, or 31 by 21 cm.

Pastel Pool from Stitch Me Good Designs looks like it would fit right in with Pool Party on a gallery wall. This one uses seven colors and 14 count fabric and fits in a 7-inch hoop. 

Speaking of gallery walls, if you want a room full of summer sun and pool themed cross stitch, check out this trifecta of pool designs from Craft Bundle Lab. There’s a women floating in a pool with a large hat, a float in a pool and several floats and pool toys in another pool with a fun checkerboard bottom. Each design uses 12 colors and they are about 14.6 inches/37 cm square worked on 14-count fabric.

This designs from Cross Stitchers United shows three people floating in a pool in different ways. This one has cross stitched water, or you can stitch it on blue fabric and save yourself some time. As shown it uses nine colors and is 94 by 94 stitches, which is 6.7 inches or 17 cm square on 14-count fabric.

The Swimmers in a Pool cross stitch pattern from Thread Nova Studios is delightful. It’s stitched with everyone wearing red suits, but you could change up some of them — or even just one of them — to change the look of the project. This one uses 14 colors and is 200 by 200 stitches. That’s about 14.3 inches/36.3 cm on 14 count fabric, though the pattern includes sizing for other stitch counts, too.

And finally the pool pattern from The Lady at Home just makes you wish you could jump right into it. The pool with floats looks super inviting, and it is stitched on 14-count fabric with a finished size of 5 by 7 inches/12.7 by 17.8 cm.