Stitch a Sweet Santa with this Cross Stitch Pattern

I’m going to start this one by admitting I have no idea why this pattern is called a tiered tray tidbits cross stitch chart. This designer, Stitching Housewives, has a whole section on their storefront with more than 100 designs called tiered tray tidbits and it doesn’t explain what that means.

They’re cute designs and they’re often shown on an interesting shaped frame, or there are ribbons or leaves or other things decorating around the design, which is often mounted on a piece of fabric or paper, too.

Or, in the case of this Santa design, almost all of the above. There’s fabric of paper the stitching is mounted on, and ribbons to decorate and make a loop for hanging. And there’s a crocheted Santa face to literally top it all off.

The design itself is 56 by 42 stitches, which comes out to 4 by 3 inches, or 10 by 7.62 cm, on 28 count black Monaco as shown (you could also use 14 count Aida). The pattern uses Classic ColorWorks thread in nine colors. Other patterns of theirs indicate that DMC equivalents are included in the pattern so I assume that is the case here, too. You can also check out the conversion chart at 123 Cross Stitch if you need help translating.

I also don’t know if the Santa face crochet pattern is included in the pattern, or if there are finishing notes, though of course you can take your little Santa in different directions if you want. There are many different versions of this vintage Santa face crochet pattern on Etsy if you want to make your own.

This design would also be cute edged with pompom rick rack or a garland of mini Christmas ornaments. Instead of the ribbon and Santa face you could go with a classic pony bead wreath as your hanging loop. The possibilities are endless. And of course you can also take the poinsettia and snowflake designs from this one and use them on other projects, too.

Grab the pattern from Stitching Housewives on Etsy, and let me know if you know what tiered tray tidbits are!

[Photo: Stitching Housewives]

Inkspire Studio Shops offers cross stitch patterns as well as tons of different stitch minders, scissor charms and thread organization tools.

We’ll get to all that, but since we’re mostly here for the patterns, let’s start there.

All of the patterns are in one category (called Inkspire Originals if you’re following along). There are a lot of book-themed projects and more of the designs are bookmarks than anything else. You’ll find trope bookmarks, a Reading Rainbow themed design, flowers and a super cute watercolor set bookmark, to name a few.

And while the book themed projects are by far the most numerous, I wanted to share this super cute pile of vintage Pyrex style bowls. I love the colors on this one and it should be easy to stitch because so much of it is blocks (or bowls) of a single color. This one is only available as a printed pattern, but most of them are digital.

It calls for six colors and comes out 5.6 by 6.9 inches, or 14.2 by 17.5 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric.

In addition to the bookmarks and book themed projects you’ll find a few kitchen projects and some Halloween and Christmas designs as well.

But what this shop is really about is needle minders, and there are tons of them, with all kinds of themes ranging from introverted and snarky to animal themes, food and beverages, retro designs and religious and inspiring needle minders.

If you don’t know about needle minders, these are acrylic with magnets. You stick a magnet to the back of your work, add the needle minder to the front of the work, and then it holds your sewing needle when you’re not stitching. No need for piercing your fabric or losing your needle between stitching sessions.

She also makes charms you can attach to your scissors (or use as a stitch marker if you’re a knitter or crocheter), inventory and project trackers and bags large and small to hold works in progress and other supplies. She’s also got a great collection of vintage cross stitch patterns and kits, so check out all the fun goodies at Inkspired Studio Shops.

[Photo: Inkspire Studio Shops]

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