Sometimes, a girl just wants to stitch some neat little x’s on cloth, you know?

And sometimes, the timing’s perfect: Her friends Ross and Sara are getting married in June, and she wants to give them a handmade wedding gift.

And even more, she just happens to find the cutest Etsy cross-stitch pattern maker, who has a pattern for a bride and groom who look just like her friends! (This is one time I hope Ross and Sara don’t actually read my blog, haha.)

I’m reacquainting myself with cross stitching again. In all honesty, I haven’t stitched an X since God knows when. It was one of the very first needlepoint techniques taught to us in school, but I was taught way before that by my mom (thank you, Mama!).

I’m having a blast putting this together, because it’s bringing me back to my childhood. Just like riding a bike, I tell you! Some things I remembered from when Mama first taught me:

1) Organize your thread.

In the old days, we would take a piece of cardboard, punch holes in them with a hole punch, mark thread colors in each hole and thread the corresponding embroidery floss color through each. I found out that there are premade plastic bobbins that you can fill up with thread, mark and arrange by number to loop through a giant ring. Maybe these have been around for a while, but I certainly had no neat little plastic bobbins like these growing up! I love the obsessive-compulsiveness of it all, haha. I even made E. wind some thread for me.

2) X marks the spot.

Mama told me to always start with a stitched cross that intersects right through the middle of your Aida cloth, and right through the middle of your design. This is a handy reference point for when you’re first starting to count your stitches and place them where you want on your fabric.

3) Be mindful of your thread length.

Too short, and you’ll need to change threads more often (which is a pain in the patootie), but too long and you run into the risk of tangles. The perfect length is that from your fingers to the inside of your elbow. I usually work with two skeins, so I double up this length to work on one set of two skeins at a time.

4) Stitch in the same direction.

The first “leg” of your x’s should go in one direction, and the second leg that completes the x should all go the other. I know it seems like that shouldn’t matter, because they’re all x’s and when they’re all grouped together you can’t really tell which is going where. But when you step back, you’ll notice the difference in how the thread catches the light. Mama and I had arguments to high heavens about this—I didn’t believe her at first, but trust me, she’s right!

I’ll be sure to post the finished project—especially when I get the chance to frame it. So excited!

I think your next crafty project should be a cross stitched one, don’t you? Even if you’ve never done it before, I’ll tell you a line from a print ad I remember seeing in a magazine when I was little: If you’ve sewn a button, you can cross stitch! (I don’t know why I’ll never forget that, haha!)

Via here.

Xoxo! 

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Further Reading Into The Art Of X-Stitching (Because nerds are awesome!)

* ANDWABISABI has the cutest cross-stitch patterns for sale on Etsy. I’m not even kidding about this cuteness. Here is solid evidence proving I do not lie about this cuteness!

…ok, seriously now. Cross-stitched punctuation marks? I’m all over THAT! Get your x-in on HERE.

* Here’s an A to Z Of Cross Stitching. Because I love A’s and Z’s and all the letters in between.

* Whaaaattt?!?! A cross-stitch pattern generator for captions? These people are geniuses!

* Subversive cross-stitch patterns. Because deep down inside, you’re a rebel. With a needle.