Spring Minis and What to Do with Mini Cross Stitch Patterns

The other day I shared a collection of small Easter cross stitch patterns, and I almost immediately came across another Easter/spring themed mini set that I wanted to share.

The spring baubles collection from sosaecaetano on Etsy includes eight tiny spring-themed designs. Some of them are like little ornaments you might hang on an Easter tree, but there’s also a chick, a bunny, a carrot and a radish.

When worked all together the design is 4.5 by 5 inches, perfect for displaying in a little hoop.

Of course you can stitch them all together, sampler style, and make one piece of hoop art. But the fun doesn’t have to stop there! Here are some ideas for ways to use mini cross stitch patterns no matter the season.

You could collect a bunch of minis on a theme (like all bunnies or chicks or Easter eggs) and stitch them together as a sampler.
Use a repeating design of minis as the border on another project.
Stitch a single design onto a card of gift tag.
Stitch one or several designs onto a bookmark.
Add them to the corner of a napkin.
Use several on an apron, tea towel or table runner.
Stitch designs individually and put in small frames. Make a set of frames to be a bunting, hang together on a wall or display on a table.
Stitch onto a piece of clothing to cover a stain (or not!).
Make mini designs into tiny pillows for use in a doll house or for kids to use in small world play.

I’m sure you can come up with other uses, these are just the things that came to me off the top of my head. There are so many fun ways to use mini cross-stitch patterns that I’m sure once you get started you’ll want to stitch a ton of tiny things to decorate everywhere and for every season!

[Photo: sosaecaetano via Etsy.]

Next Pattern:

35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

I recently shared a review of the book Lit Stitch, and in the lengthy introductory materials there were a few paragraphs — enough to warrant their own heading — about how, or more accurately, whether, to fix mistakes in your cross stitch.

The conclusion was that for the most part no one will notice if, for instance, you stitch the wrong color for a stitch or two in a project that has many colors all worked together.

“No one else will notice” is used as reasoning for not fixing mistakes in knitting, crochet and other crafts, too, and I think that’s valid, as long as you also don’t notice.

If you know enough about yourself to know that every time you wear a sweater or look at a finished cross stitch project your eye will be drawn to that errant purl stitch or the extra stitch, by all means, fix it. Especially in cross stitch, if the mistake is minor, it shouldn’t take long to fix and you’ll feel a lot better about your project.

Of course, there are also times other people might notice a mistake. Say you’re stitching letters and you add an extra stitch or two on one side so now the letter doesn’t match the others. Again, easy fix to remove those extra stitches, so go ahead and do it while you can.

I also subscribe to the rule from the drama that anything that can’t be seen from the seats doesn’t matter on stage. Maybe in a house it’s the six-foot rule. Stand as far away from your piece as you think a person is likely to be close to it when it’s on display. If you can’t see any mistakes, there aren’t any mistakes.

I’d love to hear how you deal with mistakes in your cross-stitching, or if you consider them mistakes at all!

[Photo: y x from Pixabay]

Get the book here: Lit Stitch