Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Tips for Framing Cross Stitch Projects

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How to mount and frame a cross stitch project.

Once you’ve finished stitching a cross-stitch project (having done what you can to keep it clean and cleaning it when you’re done if necessary), it’s time to put that beauty in a frame.

Of course the easiest way to finish a cross stitch project is to leave it in the hoop you used while stitching it and just finish the back.

But if your project is too big for that, or you just want to use a regular frame, you’re going to need to know how to do that.

This tutorial from Felt Magnet has some good advice on framing cross stitch, including why you might not want to just let a professional framer do it (they usually work with prints, photos and paintings and may not know how to properly treat your project).

Kymberly offers tips for choosing a good frame for a cross stitch project, how to prep the frame and the project for framing and how to mount and hang your finished project.

It’s definitely worth taking the time to do this right, whether you’re framing something for your own wall or for a gift.

Do you frame your projects? I’d love to hear any tips you may have.

[Photo via Felt Magnet.]

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Fancy Pumpkin Cross Stitch Patterns

If you’re ready to move beyond basic, solid orange pumpkins, check out these pumpkin cross stitch patterns that are just a little bit fancier with some kind of pattern on the pumpkin. 

Keep it simple and rustic with this plaid pumpkin form Cross Stitch with Art. You can make the plaid whatever colors you want to match your decor, or keep with the Halloween color palette. It uses three colors and comes out to about 6 inches/15.24 cm square when you stitch it on 14 count fabric. 

Mamaida Pattern has this cute pumpkin with a vine in the negative space. Since that portion isn’t actually stitched (though you could make it green if you like) that makes this pattern pretty easy. It uses just two colors and measures 108 by 110 stitches. That’s about 7.7 by 7.9 inches or 19.6 by 20 cm on 14 count fabric. 

Speaking of negative space, this design by Tinsel Cross Stitch blows out the pumpkin a bit so the ridges are negative space and the colors here too have kind of a vineing effect. This design is 98 by 113 stitches and uses three colors. It measures 7 by a little more than 8 inches, or 17.78 by 20.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Get even more detailed with the carving effect on this pumpkin cross stitch pattern from Anemone Patterns. This one is 85 by 83 stitches, which comes out to 6.1 by 5.9 inches (15.4 by 15.1 cm).

In a similar vein but a different color, there’s this pretty green pumpkin from Crystal Feather Crafts. Of course you could make it any color you like, but I always like to remind people that even in nature not all pumpkins are orange. This design measures 101 by 93 stitches, which is 7.2 by 6.6 inches/18.3 by 16.9 cm. 

And speaking of color, if you want to stitch a pumpkin with boho vibes, this one from Stitch Craft Creatives is probably the one for you. At 200 stitches square, it comes out to 14.4 inches or 36.3 cm square on 14 count fabric. It uses 14 colors for a very vibrant pumpkin!