Share Your Love of Cross Stitch with a DMC Kit

If you’re looking for a gift idea for a fellow cross-stitcher, something to drops hints about wanting for yourself, or a gift that allows you to share your favorite craft with someone else, you’ll want to check out the great cross stitch kits that DMC produces.

Their designer collection includes cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint and punch needle projects, with everything you need to complete them in a compact package.

They sent me Herbs by Nathalie Weinzaepflen, a French designer and illustrator, to review. The kit is packaged in a pretty, small box that includes the cross stitch fabric, all the thread that’s needed and a single needle. There are general cross stitch instructions as well as a large chart for the particular pattern, with text published in several languages (but there are lots of illustrations for the basics, too).

This particular design is for intermediate stitchers and includes a collection of flowering herbs along with their Latin names worked in back stitching. It would be lovely to stitch up for a kitchen or sunroom.

In addition to this design there are several other French inspired project kits. Another design from Weinzaepflen is inspired by Provence, while designs from Anna Matvieiev, a Ukrainian designer living in Germany, feature the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe and a cafe in Montmartre.

These kits are all rated for intermediate to advanced stitchers, though there are a couple I think stitchers with less experience could complete. It’s hard to find good gift ideas for cross stitchers, but this is a fun option to ask for or to get for someone else.

The full designer collection highlights designers from around the world and features classic and contemporary styles using a range of needle arts skills. If you’re interested in embroidery, needlepoint or punch needle you can check out the full collection on their website and buy the kits direct from DMC.

Next Pattern:

35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

I’ll admit to not taking as much care as I should when finishing cross stitch projects. Just like blocking in knitting or crochet, taking the time to finish a cross stitch project right means it will look its best, whether you’re making it as a gift or to keep.

And when it comes to cross stitch, the best method for finishing is washing and pressing.

Kat and Catkin and Lillie makes the argument that you should always press your finished pieces, and wash them the vast majority of the time as well.

Washing of course will help if there is any visible dirt that got on the project while stitching, but it also helps remove oils and skin cells you can’t see but that can speed up damage to your project in the long run.

Washing and pressing also help remove creases from the hoop or from storing the project, and if you use heat-erasable marking pens to grid your fabric, this will remove any visible marks.

So we’ve got the why down, but what about the how?

Kat has a great step by step tutorial on how to wash your cross stitch projects and how to iron them safely. You probably have everything you need to do this, it just takes a bit of time to go through the process. It’s certainly worth it, though, if you’ve spent a lot of time on a project and are gifting it or framing it and want to show it off to its best.

Click over to the post at Catkin and Lillie for all the details, plus some really good thoughts on times when you might not want to wash a project and how to test the colorfastness of your threads so you’ll know if a project is safe to wash.

Do you wash and press your finished cross stitch projects? I’d love to hear all about your process!

[Photo: Catkin and Lillie]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply