Use a Kit to Cross Stitch a Piece of Jewelry

I get a subscription box (the Introvert’s Retreat Box, which is run by a friend of mine but that isn’t an affiliate link) that sometimes has little craft projects in it and the one for this month had a lovely little bamboo pendant kit from Red Gate Stitchery that you could cross stitch a heart on.

I made mine in the 20 minutes or so I was on a conference call that should have been an email, and my daughter promptly took it to wear.

The kit includes the bamboo base with pre-cut holes, three colors of thread to choose from, a couple of sewing needles, the necklace chain, a chart and basic instructions. (The kits she sells on etsy seem to only have one color of thread.)

This is easy enough for a new stitcher to do and would be a great gift for a young person — or any person — you’re trying to encourage to get into cross stitch. Then of course they can keep the necklace or gift it to someone else. How’s that for some good crafty karma?

Have you ever used a cross-stitch jewelry kit? I’d love to hear about it!

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There are so many fun ways you can go when stitching Halloween cross stitch patterns or giving your place a slightly spooky or witchy vibe any time of year. I love the look of little potion bottles, whether they’re real bottles lined up on the mantle or shelf or cross stitched versions like these.

The gorgeous Elixir of Life cross stitch pattern from Makaronka Stitch is decidedly not Halloween in its vibes, so it would be fun to stitch and display any time of year. This is also definitely not a pattern for beginners, as it uses 37 colors and 34 blends to make the beautiful colors. It also uses full and half cross stitches, back stitch and French knots. The design measures 82 by 115 stitches, which comes out to 5.8 by 8.2 inches or 14.88 by 20.86 cm on 14 count fabric.

If you’re looking for something a little smaller but still a lot of fun, check out this set of six potion bottles from MIYA Stitch. I love how each bottle seems to have its own personality, from one with a pumpkin and witch hat to one with crystals, mushrooms, or a butterfly and flower. The patterns are 60 by 88 stitches each. That’s 4.3 by 6.3 inches or 11 by 16 cm on 14 count fabric. The full set uses 26 colors and blends.

Or try this set of five mini potion bottles from Plenty of Strings. I love the colors on these and they’d look great as a set on one piece of fabric or individually stitches as shown. Each one fits in a 3-inch hoop.

These minis from Giselles Cross Stitch are really cute, too, though they are meant to be worked together as one piece. The whole pattern uses 26 colors and measures 93 by 107 stitches, which comes out to 6.6 by 7.6 inches or 16.8 by 19.4 cm on 14 count fabric. They’re perfect on black or a dark blue fabric.

I also like this bigger set of potion bottles from SamXstitch, which is meant to be stitched as a set but you could also work individual bottles in their own frames if you’d rather. The full design uses 10 colors and is 123 by 173 stitches. Taht comes out to 8.78 by 12.36 inches/22.31 by 31.39 cm on 14 count fabric.

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