An update on my Nutcracker Christmas cross stitch project

Around this time last year I wrote about my currently incomplete cross stitch projects. There were quite a few! I've made progress on several of them, but the one that I'm most proud of is The Christmas Nutcracker from Bothy Threads. Here's how it was looking last Christmas, with just the shoulders of the Nutcracker stitched.

I worked on it quite a lot in the early part of the year, then I put it aside for a few months. When I fancied doing some cross stitch over the summer I picked up another neglected cross stitch project, as it felt strange to be working on a Christmas project when it was warm and light outside!

But as the cold and dark have returned I've found myself called back to the Nutcracker, and I'm really pleased with how it's getting on. The pattern is in two parts, the first sheet is a layer of cross stitch and then the second sheet is a layer of more intricate embroidery stitches. I don't want to confuse myself, so I'm going to complete all of the cross stitch first before I move on to the second layer.

I would say that I'm definitely halfway through the first layer, so a quarter of the way through the project!

It's quite simple to stitch, there are some mirrored areas and it is mainly worked in blocks of colour with no shading. The pattern is easy to follow, and by working on a colour at a time you can make a lot of progress quite quickly. 

I'm going to be making this my main project over the Christmas period and I'm hoping to get lots done, maybe by the New Year I'll even be able to complete the cross stitch layer!

Different ways to display completed mini cross stitch designs

Most of my cross stitch projects are large designs that take several years to complete. But sometimes I just want a quick win, and that's when I turn to a mini cross stitch kit for some speedy crafting satisfaction. In particular I'm a sucker for the mini kits that are displayed at the till in Hobbycraft, especially as they are usually part of a tempting multi-buy promotion. 

But what to do with all the finished tiny cross stitched pieces? Here are some ideas!

Frame them in a small embroidery hoop

I bought these mini Christmas embroidery kits a few years ago. They were easy to stitch, and as well as cross stitch they also have some different embroidery stitches to add interest. I framed each one in a painted embroidery hoop with added glitter, and they form part of my Christmas mantlepiece display. 

Use them to make a greetings card

This little cupcake design is really sweet! I used my Cricut to make a simple frame and mounted the cross stitch inside to make a card.

Use them as panels in a quilt

This would work best for a decorative quilt, or maybe one that is used as a wall hanging. Just use the cross stitched fabric to make a panel for the quilt, mixed in with different fabric panels or patchwork. You can find a tutorial for a gorgeous quilt here - Cross Stitch and Paper Piecing. 

Use for a cushion, pillow or lavender bag

You can either use a slightly larger piece or combine several smaller pieces to make a cushion or pillow. This is a great way to display your finished project! You can find a video tutorial here:

You can also use a smaller piece to make a simple lavender bag, either by folding over a larger piece of fabric or using contrasting fabric to back it.

Sew a bookmark

This project works best with very small designs, like my free mini cross stitch Christmas motifs. You can combine several together to form a wide strip, or you can even buy cross stitch fabric cut to bookmark size (affiliate link) which you can sew on directly.

Use for gift tags

It's really easy to make gift tags from tiny cross stitch motifs, and they add a lovely personal touch to a gift. If you put a pretty hanging tag then they could be re-purposed as Christmas tree ornaments!

Combine smaller designs for a larger project

I used some of my mini snowflake cross stitch patterns to make a larger framed embroidery hoop piece. It took a bit of fiddling to produce a design that I was happy with, but I was really pleased with the result which I stitched on dark fabric - you can find the free pattern here Snowflake embroidery hoop design.

Sew together to use as bunting flags

You can use small finished pieces to make some lovely bunting, maybe combined with bunting flags in different fabrics. I love the woodland bunting which you can find in this article along with the free patterns - Children's cross stitch patterns. 

For really tiny pieces

I love these really small wooden frames (affiliate link) which can be used to frame those really miniature cross stitch projects. They can be used for hanging decorations and ornaments, pendants, brooches, keyrings and so on.

I hope that I've given you some ideas for ways to display those tiny cross stitch projects!

Picking up my neglected cross stitch project - Olde World Map by Janlynn

A while ago I wrote a post about my currently incomplete cross stitch projects - there were four in progress, plus at least two that are still unopened. Perhaps not as bad as some with this hobby, but the ones on the go are large projects that will take a long time to complete!

Probably my favourite in progress cross stitch project is the Olde World Map by Janlynn (affiliate link) which appeals to me because I love maps and I love historical cross stitch designs. It's a large piece but I've completed complicated cross stitch projects before like Three Things by Moira Blackburn and the Christmas ABC Sampler by Design Works, so I wasn't too daunted. I started with one of the map sections in the centre and didn't find it too difficult.

But then I reached the border along the bottom, and this is where I got stuck. The cross stitch pattern is very dense, with lots of different symbols for all the different colours and also a lot of the colours are very similar. Here's a small section of the pattern for the border. The pattern is printed with some colours, including the yellow section which refers to a golden coloured thread. 

But! When you come to stitch it, you realise that most of the colours you are using in this section are almost identical, including the ones that are printed red on the pattern! Even in natural light it's really difficult to see the difference between a couple of the colours. So I was struggling with this, and that is what had made me put the project to one side. However this time when I picked it up I was determined, and I worked really hard to complete a large section of the border.

I began by adding the stitches in the darkest colours and counting very carefully, so that I had some markers in place. Then I worked on the areas marked yellow in the pattern. After adding in the simple lines I used a post it note and moved it across to work on one column at a time. It was slow going, although the pace picked up once I'd got used to the pattern. Then I was able to fill in the background colours, again counting very carefully and constantly rechecking my stitch positions.

However what really makes the border design pop is adding the backstitch. There is lots of backstitch in the border, some of it is simple straight lines and some is more fiddly, although once I'd done one of the outline sections I was able to copy that for the next ones rather than going back to the pattern. It really makes such a difference!

Now that I've finished this section I have more confidence when it comes to tackling the rest of the border. I've already started to work up the left hand side and I'm finding it all much easier. Even though I've only done part of the left hand section of the design I'm tempted to next finish the border all the way up to the top.

You can see what the finished design will look like in the picture below. I still have a long way to go but the whole thing is starting to feel a little more achievable, and I'm looking forward to working on the more interesting designs in the corner and the middle!

Craft book review - Sew Mindful Cross Stitch

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review

Today I'm sharing a lovely new craft book - Sew Mindful Cross Stitch by Sophie Crabb. Cross stitch is one of my favourite crafts, and I've shared many of my cross stitch projects here on the blog, as well as some of my own designs. One of the reasons that I enjoy cross stitch is because it's a craft that I can really absorb myself in. The time flies by, and I love the feeling of accomplishment as a project comes together.

Cross stitch is definitely a mindful craft, and so I loved the idea of this book which aims to show the importance of crafting and the impact that it has on our mental wellbeing.

The book opens with a comprehensive introduction to cross stitching for beginners. Everything is covered - tools and materials required, the different types of thread and fabric, how to read a pattern, using hoops and frames and different stitching techniques. All the steps are fully illustrated to make it easy for complete beginners.

The book goes on to discuss the act of mindfulness, and some techniques for mindful cross stitching. I loved this section because it really emphasised to me how important it is to find an activity which can help you to switch off from the world and really relax and focus your brain on one thing. The first of the 22 projects in the book are small and ideal for beginners. The patterns are easy to follow, so you can really focus on how you feel as you are stitching, the feel of the fabric and thread and the sound of the thread pulling through the holes.

The remaining projects in the book are grouped by theme - Positive Affirmations, Self-Care Stitches and Mindful Messages. Alongside each project the author has included a short paragraph explaining what the project means to her, which I found really interesting to read. There are so many designs in the book that it's easy to pick the ones which really resonate, and give you something to think about while you are stitching.

The book finishes with some tutorials for finishing off your cross stitch pieces so that they can be displayed. There were some really helpful tips, especially for when it comes to framing a piece in an embroidery hoop which I sometimes find tricky. 

I really enjoyed the opportunity to think a little more about how the mind and body link, and how mindful crafting can help to have a profound and positive impact on mental wellbeing. The projects in the book are simple yet effective and are perfect for beginners and more experienced cross stitchers alike. Even if, like mine, your cross stitching stash is too full at the moment to start new projects, it's also a really lovely read and gave me lots of things to think about. I'm definitely going to have a go at some of the smaller projects in the book first when I'm looking for a break from a larger piece!

Some of my favourite Christmas felt crafts

As I was putting out my Christmas decorations this year I realised how many of them are things that I've crafted over the years and have enjoyed bringing out year after year. Many of my favourite homemade Christmas decorations involve felt, and so I thought I'd share a few here. 

These Felt Christmas stocking decorations are the very first Christmas decoration that I made, it must be over twenty years ago now! I remember making a special trip to town to buy the felt and the beads as I had just moved out of home and hadn't yet built up a craft stash. I still have some of the beads left and they crop up from time to time in my projects, like the felt star ornaments at the bottom of this post.

They were copied from ones that I remembered my Mum making when I was little - they are designed to hold a small funsize bar of chocolate and hang on the tree as an alternative to chocolate foil decorations. The children used to use them as mini stockings for their soft toys!

Next, this Embroidered felt Christmas bunting has hung over our mantlepiece every year since I made it. It was very easy to make, just pendants of felt and some simple embroidery (using an outline drawn on tissue paper, sewn through and removed). 

I made this Cross stitch snowflake felt bunting using snowflake designs from my free simple snowflake cross stitch patterns. They were very quick to make using scraps of Aida fabric and oddments of thread. I then cut and sewed together simple felt circles to frame them. 

This Felt Christmas tree and bauble bunting is formed of four small felt Christmas trees and four decorated baubles. I loved hunting through my stash to find ric rac, ribbon and beads to decorate them with and they look lovely hung in my office window. 

My Felt star Christmas ornaments were a felt stash busting project, using up felt in different colours that I had remaining from various completed projects. Initially I had them on display in a bowl in the living room, but I've since added some coloured thread so that they can be hung from the tree.

Finally, a few years ago I received some festive ornament felt kits to review and they were lovely to do, simple enough to be completed in a few crafting sessions but challenging enough to still be interesting. If you don't have a craft stash to work from then buying a kit with everything that you need is a great alternative, and they are often very reasonably priced!

I hope that you enjoy your Christmas crafting!

My currently incomplete cross stitch projects

I've recently picked up some cross stitch again after a generous gift from a friend (see below!) and I'm really enjoying stitching away. Unfortunately it's not the only long term cross stitch project on my hoops, I also have a few others on the go. I thought I'd share the cross stitch projects that I'm currently working on, in the hope that it might inspire me to get a couple finished!

My cross stitch travel map will probably never be finished, as I won't even want to think that I won't be doing any more travelling! In fact I've just realised that I need to update it after visiting Sweden over the summer, and there is plenty of work that I can do to fill in all those white gaps. 

Another map that I'm working on is the Olde World Map from Janlynn. This is a very large piece, and as I've discovered it is very challenging. There are lots of similar colours to work with, and it can be very difficult to distinguish between them when stitching busy areas. So I've not worked on it for a while, which is a shame because it's a lovely kit. I need to come up with some kind of system to help me, possibly making a copy of the pattern and using a highlighter to mark off areas as I complete them. 

A couple of weeks ago I unpacked this Christmas Be a Light kit from Dimensions which I bought on our most recent trip to the US. It's a lovely design worked on navy blue Aida and I thought that it would be a nice Christmas project. 

But then! I met a friend a couple of weeks ago and she very kindly passed on this cross stitch kit - The Christmas Nutcracker from Bothy Threads. I was going to put it aside for future Christmas crafting but I couldn't stop myself from making a start, and now I think this will be my Christmas project instead. It's a very easy kit, there are a limited number of colours and the Nutcracker at least is symmetrical and formed of large blocks of colour, so you don't need to follow the pattern too closely. It's a great design for working on in front of the television or when you only have a few minutes before you need to put it down.

I won't be finishing it by this Christmas, but there's a chance that it might be complete before the next one!

In my stash I also have one other cross stitch kit which I've not even taken out of the pack yet. It's quite a small one, a sort of cross stitch cat, which I'm saving to take away on the sort of holiday which will give me some stitching time. 

I'm thinking that I need some kind of challenge to help me make some good progress on all these projects. Maybe I can incorporate something into my New Year's resolutions!

Cross stitch felt snowflake bunting

Recently I shared my free pattern for some cross stitch snowflakes, and today I'm sharing a project that I made using some of these designs - some felt and cross stitch snowflake bunting.

For this project I used some green felt from my stash, but I think that it would also look really good with red felt. In fact there are all sorts of different colour schemes that you could use! My circles measure approximately 6cm across. For each bauble you need to cut out a complete circle, a circular frame with the same diameter, and a circle of cross stitch fabric which is slightly smaller in diameter. I used 14 count Aida fabric for my snowflakes.

Stitch a snowflake into the centre of each piece of cross stitch fabric. Make sure that the snowflake is centred by folding the fabric slightly to find the middle. 

Then place the cross stitch fabric between the felt front and back pieces and stitch around the outside. I used a blanket stitch as I like how it looks, you can find an easy blanket stitch tutorial here (video).

I made eight cross stitch circles in total. Then I used some silver ribbon from my stash to turn them into bunting. The ribbon is sewn across the back of the circles - I tried several different ways of attaching the ribbon until I found one that I liked the look of!

I've hung the bunting above my fireplace for now but when the rest of the Christmas decorations come out I will probably move it to my bookshelves as it's quite light and delicate and will get lost amongst my Christmas fireplace décor!

You can find the cross stitch pattern for the snowflakes here - Free simple cross stitch snowflake designs and patterns.

This cross stitch snowflake craft is one of several projects that I've made using my free snowflake designs. You might also like to have a go at my cross stitch snowflake embroidery hoop which is a simple yet effective Christmas craft.

Three mini Christmas embroidery kits

 A couple of years ago I bought these mini Christmas embroidery kits from Hobbycraft. They were really good value, I'm pretty sure that they were 3 for 2 in the basket deals that they often have by the till. I've just had a quick look on the website and they currently have similar mini Christmas cross stitch kits for £2.50 each or three for £6 (you can see the whole range here) which again I think is very reasonable.

I love doing little cross stitch kits like this, especially when they have a seasonal theme. These particular kits were quite complicated for such small designs - as well as cross stitches there were plenty of French knots and lazy daisy stitches along with some intricate back stitch work.

My problem is that I never know what to do with them when they are finished! I think they are designed to be used in a card, but I wanted to have them out on display as part of my Christmas décor. My original plan was to come up with some kind of fabric hanger using some of my Christmas fabric, but I couldn't work out exactly what I wanted. I also looked at some panoramic frames but again I didn't think that was quite what I was after.

So I went with my tried and tested framing method of embroidery hoops. I was reluctant to spend any more money so I repurposed three small 4" hoops that I already had. I painted the frames with my favourite Christmas colours - red, green and gold - and found that each one matched one of the cross stitch designs perfectly. I couldn't resist finishing them with a coat of glitter glue for some sparkle!

I'm really pleased with them! When it comes to displaying them at Christmas I will either prop them along the mantlepiece or else I'll add some Christmas ribbon for hanging. Another one of my ten craft projects to complete by the end of the year ticked off!

Mini Christmas cross stitch gift tags craft

Last year I shared some free mini Christmas cross stitch designs which can be used for all sorts of pixel crafts. I've written about lots of different ways that you can use mini Christmas cross stitch motifs in your crafts, and today I thought I'd share the latest one that I've been working on! These mini Christmas cross stitch gift tags with a glittery frame are really quick and simple to make and add a sweet personal touch to Christmas gifts.

You can find the cross stitch designs here - free mini Christmas cross stitch patterns.

I chose four of my favourite designs to turn into Christmas gift tags. They are really quick to stitch up, and are a great way to use up scraps of fabric and thread from your stash. When stitched on 14 count Aida fabric each design measures about 2cm square. Make sure to leave a border around the stitching to allow for a frame, I used a piece of fabric that was 5cm square. 

To make the frames I used some glittery card. I cut out a frame that measured 5cm square with a 1cm border. I trimmed my cross stitch pieces slightly, then used some tape to stick them to the back of the frame, making sure that the design remained central.

To back the gift tags I used white card so that the recipient's name can be easily seen. I used double sided tape to stick the cards to a backing piece of white cardboard.

Then I used a single hole punch to make a hole in the corner of each gift card, and I threaded through some festive string to attach to a present or gift bag.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out, and I think that they look really sweet!

Ways to use mini Christmas cross stitch motifs in your crafts

Last year I shared my free mini Christmas cross stitch and pixel art designs and they have been really popular! I definitely want to use them in my Christmas crafting this year and so I've been having a brainstorm of different ways that that they could be used in Christmas crafts. I'm sharing them below in case you are looking for some Christmas cross stitch inspiration!

You can click the link above to download the printable pattern in classic colours and as a blank outline, and I've also designed a red and white Christmas cross stitch colourway. 

This is a smaller picture of the pattern:

And here are some different crafts that you could make with them:

* There are twenty four mini designs which lend themselves perfectly to an Advent Calendar. You could stitch the designs on to small individual drawstring bags.

* You could also use the designs to decorate the boxes of a wooden Advent Calendar. In this case, making the designs using a sturdier craft material like mini Hama beads or diamond painting dots might work better. 

* You could make a sampler style cross stitch design, either using the pattern as it is or changing it around to suit your taste. It would look lovely in a small frame, you could also add some text.

* The individual designs are the perfect size for gift tags when mounted in a cardboard frame. You can see how I made these here - Christmas cross stitch gift tags.

* You could also make bookmarks with a row of four or five.

* The designs would also work well for Christmas cards, either individually or maybe in a block of four.

* Using Hama beads you could make some Christmas magnets, perhaps attached to a gift as a little extra present. You can see some examples of Hama bead magnets here.

* You could also use them with Hama beads to make some Christmas keyrings, again they would make a great gift tag.

* You can buy all sorts of tiny frames for displaying cross stitch. As well as for display they can also be turned into ornaments for the Christmas tree, magnets or a festive pendant.

* The designs would make some lovely mini Christmas bunting. You could stitch them onto felt like my felt Christmas bunting, or mount the stitched cross stitch onto cardboard flags.

Snowflake cross stitch embroidery hoop design - free pattern

I recently shared my simple snowflake cross stitch designs, and today I'm sharing a larger free snowflake cross stitch design. This circular design fits perfectly into a 6" embroidery hoop for display, and it makes a lovely festive decoration for your home this Christmas.

I stitched this design using white embroidery thread on navy blue 14 count Aida fabric. The design measures 67 x 67 stitches. Because the pattern uses just the one colour it is very quick and easy to stitch. I think that it would also look great on fabric in a different colour - perhaps green or red - or if stitched with metallic threads. 

Click here to download the pattern below as a .pdf - Snowflake Embroidery Hoop Pattern

This was a really satisfying make as it stitched up so quickly, especially because no colour changes are needed and there are no fancy stitches or backstitch! The only thing to watch is if you are using dark thread on white Aida, because if you carry the thread across the back then it might show through.

I used a plain wooden embroidery hoop for my design, but to make it a little more festive I used a few coats of silver acrylic paint to cover it which worked really well. A gold or white frame would also look good - there are so many different colour combinations that you could come up with.

Happy crafting!

Free simple cross stitch snowflake designs and patterns

Today on the blog I have a simple festive cross stitch pattern to share - some mini cross stitch snowflakes. These tiny designs are easy to work on and look great when stitched up. To keep the designs small it was necessary to simplify the snowflake a little so these are eight sided snowflakes rather than six sided, but I think that they still work well!

The snowflakes would be great for all sorts of winter and Christmas crafting projects. For example Christmas cards, mini bunting, tableware, Advent calendars, baubles and all sorts of decorations. I definitely have a lots of ideas in mind which I will be sharing here!

I found that the snowflakes worked really well when stitched with white thread on a darker background. You could also use silver metallic thread on a dark background, or if you want to use a white background I think that they would look great stitched in a contrasting colour like red for a Scandi feel.

I have worked some of these designs up into a full embroidery hoop cross stitch pattern which I will be sharing on the blog very shortly. Hopefully this sneak peek will give a good idea of how the simple cross stitch snowflakes look when they are stitched! I used navy blue Aida fabric and white embroidery thread for my hoop.

These small snowflake designs can also easily be used for other pixel art projects. Last year I used some of the simpler designs to make some mini Hama bead snowflakes. You can see in the blog post how I adapted the designs to add a background so that they were more stable for the tiny beads. You could also use the designs for knitting patterns, digital art projects, diamond painting and much more.

Happy festive crafting!

Map and travel themed cross stitch kit inspiration

I love a map. I have a huge map poster in my study and I can spend ages studying it and dreaming about the places around the world that I would like to visit. And I also love cross stitch, so I thought I would share a few cross stitch kits which are inspired by maps and a love of travel!

I use a cross stitch map to track my travels. I stitch over a country when I have visited it, and I'm in the process of filling in the white areas with small pictures that represent places that I've travelled to. It sits above my desk and it's nice to have my travel memories close by.

I'm also working on the Olde World Map cross stitch by Janlynn which is definitely going to be a long term project. It's very detailed with an extremely complicated border! When I was looking it up on Amazon I found lots of cheap copies which is a real shame, I think it's definitely worth looking for the original to make sure that you get a good quality kit.

Finally while I was browsing on Amazon I spotted a book which is full of lovely little travel motifs that I think would be great for some of the spaces that I have left in my travel map. I couldn't resist and so I treated myself to a second hand copy, of which there are plenty available online. Perhaps it will give me the push I need to finally get the project finished!

A wish list of cross stitch kits that I'd love to complete one day

I don't have enough time to be able to cross stitch every design that I'd like to. Not to mention not having enough wall space to hang them! But it's always fun to browse, and so here's a wish list of cross stitch kits that I would love to be able to stitch. Who knows, maybe one or two of them might make it into my craft space one day!

I am really pleased with my Three Things sampler by Moira Blackburn, and she has also created many other lovely designs based on historical samplers. This one is called Season and Time. The quote reads "To every thing there is a Season, and a Time to every purpose under Heaven". It's another big one and I like the unusual shape for a sampler.

I also really like Peaceful Garden. "Peaceful is my garden, Contentment is my lot". What a gorgeous wide border and I also love the animals, especially the curled up cat.

A couple of years ago I stitched the Heart cross stitch by Awesome Pattern Studio on Etsy. I first spotted the design on Pinterest I think, but when I went to the shop I found an amazing selection of patterns. It's just the designs, not a full kit, although I have plenty of spare embroidery thread that I can work with.

There are so many designs here that I would love to stitch, but if I had to narrow it down I would go for one of the city scenes like the London city scene or the Rome city scene. Or maybe the one that depicts Bryce Canyon National Park in the US, the beautiful national park where we got engaged.

I would really like to complete a Van Gogh cross stitch design. My favourite work is Sunflowers which I had hanging on my student walls for many years.

On a botanical theme I'm also always drawn to cactuses, a theme that I've not worked with yet although I do have a few cactuses around the house. This one is a nice simple sampler style design.

And this one isn't technically cross stitch, it's embroidery with a stamped outline which isn't a type of stitched craft that I've tried before. I must confess that I've added this to my Amazon wish list already, perhaps I'll be lucky enough to get it for my birthday!

Finally, after putting together a post with some Christmas themed cross stitch kits inspiration I would really love to stitch this 12 Days of Christmas. It looks like a tough one, as well as being complex with lots of detail it also has metallic threads and beading. But it would be really satisfying to complete! 

My favourite things about long term craft projects

I love a long term craft project, and I've shared several completed ones here on the blog. Probably the craft project that I was working on for the longest was this one - Three Things sampler by Moira Blackburn - which took me about seven years on and off! Mainly because it was the craft project that I was working on while being busy having babies, and there were very long periods where I didn't get to work on it at all!

I now have another large cross stitch project which I must admit I haven't picked up for a while (I'm intending to work hard on my cross stitch next year!) It's a large antique map, it's really lovely and one that I had my eye on for quite a time, but it's proving to be very complicated. There's a very fancy border with lots of similar colours, and I'm still getting my head around the best way to work on it. 

There are lots of reasons that I prefer to work on one or two long term craft projects at a time rather than lots of smaller ones, and here are some of them:

* I don't like having lots of stuff around the house. I like my craft projects to have a purpose or be decorative, but there is only so much cross stitch that you can have on display and only so many blankets that you can realistically use. 

* I enjoy working towards a goal. I like to break a larger project down into easily finished sections so that I can see my progress. 

* I like sharing my progress on a project, here on the blog and on social media.

* I appreciate having a project that is always there ready to be worked on, rather than having to gather supplies together for a new project when I'm in a crafty mood.

I'll soon be working out and sharing my crafting goals for 2022, I'm hoping that I will be able to get plenty of crafting done next year!