Stitch Some Iconic Women for Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month is celebrated every March, but of course it’s always a good time to learn about amazing women from history and maybe make little versions of them in cross stitch. Because why not?

I shared a bunch of iconic ladies in cross stitch for Women’s History Month last year, and I wanted to try to find some more projects to share this year.

I love this little set of sort of chibi historical ladies from ThreeOOne Patterns on Etsy.

It includes 20 little figures, some of whom you definitely know and others might be less familiar to you. In fact the pattern listing doesn’t say who they all are so I’m not totally sure, but there’s definitely Mother Teresa, Amelia Earhart, Cleopatra, Sacajawea, Rosie the Riveter (OK, she’s not real, but still), Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Wu Zeitan and one of the Brontes, I think, to name a few. There’s one that might be Josephine Baker? Maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Hopefully each person is labelled in the pattern so you can know who you are stitching.

The full pattern is 196 by 308 stitches, which comes out to 14 by 22 inches or 35.5 by 55.8 cm if you use 14 count fabric. It uses 85 colors to stitch all of the ladies.

Of course you could just stitch a few of them or add one to a greeting card or another smaller project. I kind of like the idea of lining some of them up almost like a border on a project with a feminist quote or slogan. But having this whole set of amazing ladies on your wall would be sure to inspire you to greatness.

(And if you take a peek at the pattern and feel like you can identify more of the people, let me know. I think I know more of them than listed but I’m not totally sure.)

Grab the pattern from ThreeOOne Patterns.

[Photo: ThreeOOne Patterns]

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Cross Stitch for Women's History Month

One of the most common supplies for cross stitch, aside from fabric, needles and floss, is an embroidery hoop. A hoop isn’t needed for every project, and indeed there are some stitchers who prefer not to use them at all. I generally don’t use a hoop when I’m working on a small cross stitch project, especially something that’s shape isn’t conducive to using a hoop (like a bookmark).

But embroidery hoops can be really helpful for cross stitch because they hold your fabric at an even tension, which allows you to stitch more evenly without any more work on your part. It’s great for beginners to use hoops because the tension on the fabric can both help make your stitches more even and make the holes in the fabric a little easier to see.

I’ll admit to always just buying whatever hoop is available in the right size when I’m ready to start a project without giving it much more thought than that. But there are things you should consider when choosing among the different kinds of hoops, which Caterpillar Cross Stitch covers in their great guide to embroidery hoops.

The post walks you through wooden, plastic, spring tension and flexi hoops (which I’ll admit to having never heard of; they’re made of vinyl and plastic apparently), as well as Q-Snap frames, which aren’t really hoops because they’re made of plastic tubes that you snap together in the size and shape you need.

It also covers what size hoop you should use for the project you’re working on and how to actually use a hoop in the right way.

Whether you’re new to cross stitch or more seasoned, you’re sure to pick up a tip or a product to try in this post, so go check it out over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch.

Do you have a favorite kind of embroidery hoop to use for cross stitch, or do you go without? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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