Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint
I know peonies aren’t in bloom this time of year, but they are lovely shapes to stitch any time.
This free pattern for a cross stitched peony from Sew and So is excerpted from the book Oriental Cross Stitch. Fun fact: the Chinese name for the peony is Sho Yo, meaning most beautiful.
I think the most beautiful part of this project is the backstitching worked in gold thread. If you change the colors when you make this one, keep that metallic element; it’s so lovely!
[Photo: Sew and So.]
I recently wrote a post on my blog about using a stitchable journal cover and I mentioned that you can make your own stitched cover for a journal by using perforated paper instead of buying a stitchable notebook.
I have to admit, though, that I’ve never used perforated paper for cross stitch myself. I definitely want to because I think it would be great to use for bookmarks that don’t fray and have a little more stability, for example.
Sirious Stitches has us covered, though, because they did a deep dive into all things perforated cross stitch pattern that is worth the time to read through.
The post mentions that a lot of people use perforated paper for cross stitch because they buy an ornament kit that uses it. I’ve never seen these (or at least never noticed that that is what they were) but it’s a great idea to make small projects like ornaments in this way. It also talks about the pros and cons of using cross stitch paper, where to buy it and how to make your own.
Making it yourself is an awesome idea because if you already have a pattern in mind you can just make holes in your paper where you need stitches to be and leave the rest solid. This would be ideal for making greeting cards, for example.
In addition to kits and sheets you can often find the paper pre-cut into different shapes you can use to make your own designs, no real pattern required.
The post also includes tips and advice for how to stitch on perforated paper that you’ll want to check out before you try your first project.
I’m super intrigued by the idea of using perforated paper for cross stitch and will probably be trying it out soon. Have you used it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Check out the post over at Sirious Stitches for more information.
[Photo: Sirious Stitches]