Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Stitch Up a Cute Fall Greeting — Hello Pumpkin

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I love the idea of stitching greeting cards, or really making any kinds of greeting cards to send to people. Or maybe sending cards in general. Whatever. 

This “Hello Pumpkin” chart from Gathered would be a perfect one to stitch up as a greeting card, and it’s actually shown in the pattern being used in that way. 

This project was designed by Jenny Van De Wiele for The World of Cross Stitching magazine and is being offered as a free pattern. There’s actually a whole set of these little harvest time greetings, and you can buy a digital copy of the magazine if you want to stitch any of the others. 

This one is 46 by 45 stitches, and it uses 10 colors. You could make the pumpkins any colors you like or make them in two different colors instead of four if you want to use fewer colors. 

On 14 count fabric or 28 count evenweave it measures 3.25 inches square, or about 8.5 cm. So it’s perfect for mounting onto a little card or just putting into a small frame. It would easily fit in a 4-inch hoop or a little frame of your choosing and would be cute in a display of pumpkins (handcrafted, real or otherwise). 

There are a couple of different ways that you can mount a piece of cross stitch onto a greeting card. If your card has a hole (or you can cute out a hole to fit) then you can easily tape the cross stitch to the inside of the card, using the tape to cover up the raw edges of the cross stitch fabric. 

This image shows the cross stitch on the outside of the card, but it doesn’t have instructions for how to do that. I’m inclined to think you’d want to use a spray adhesive to try to hold down every strand of the fabric, but you could also use decorative tape on the outside or finish the edges of your design with a bit of fabric or ribbon to keep it from fraying. 

You can grab this free pattern from Gathered, and check out their digital editions if you want more of the patterns. 

[Photo: Gathered]

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Have you read?

Everything You Need to Know About Embroidery Hoops

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]