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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A Possible Cross Stitch Project to Try

Cute spooky and fantasy cross stitch patterns is how the designer behind Haunted Frames describes their shop, and I have to agree with them. These designs are cute and Gothic and a little bit spooky all at once. There’s a heavy focus on book themes, which you know I am a fan of, so let’s get into it.

Stopping first in the books section, there are lots of designs that are literally on book shapes, but if you know my love of both books and cats, you’ll know I had to share the Midnight Book Cart cross stitch pattern. As the name suggests it’s a design with a witchy book cart, complete with a spiderweb, bats flying out of a book and what it describes as a ghost cat (though I would have to make a black cat instead of a white one since I have a black cat, and that fits with the vibe).

The design is 65 by 97 stitches and is worked in 17 colors. It’s shown on 16 count fabric, which makes it 4.1 by 6.1 inches, or 10.3 by 15.4 cm.

I also love the winter themed little free library design, which would be perfect to stitch up for the little librarian in your life (or to drop at a neighborhood book space).

Projects with a book theme make up the majority of the patterns that are categorized in this shop, but you’ll want to scroll through all their patterns to see what else is available, since it doesn’t look like everything is in a category. You’ll find castles and dragons, more cats of course, some more obviously Halloween and Christmas themed projects and those that would suit for spooky season or any other time of year.

If cute and dark is your aesthetic, you’ll want to check out all the patterns at www.etsy.com/shop/HauntedFrames, which you can find on Etsy.

[Photo: Haunted Frames]

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