Great customized finishing ideas for cross stitch
Check out some of the creative ideas other stitchers have come up with for finishing their stitched pieces.
If you too would like to share a photo of your stitched piece, as well as ideas for finishing projects, please feel free to use our contact form and select "I'd like to share my photo"
The Dreaming Girl featured on the back of a denim Jacket
Thanks to Wioletta, we are able to share a brilliant idea: cross stitching Barbara Ana's Dreaming Girl on the back of a denim jacket, using DMC's soluble canvas. The stitcher completed her work during her second lockdown in the end of March this year, it's no wonder she wanted to dream about visiting other places!
Wioletta customized the pattern in her very own way:
- lightening up the denim beforehand in the stitched area using bleach (the first try was too white so she added some blue and purple dye)
- substituting the earing and autum leaves in the original pattern with charms hanging like amulets
- and finally personalizing the houses in the bottom right: " I live in Italy but I added elements of architecture of my hometown in Poland". So pretty.
Thanks so much Wioletta and congratulations for this stunning project!
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Dreaming Girl | Counted cross stitch pattern by Barbara Ana Designs as stitched on the back of a denim jacket by Wioletta, using DMC soluble canvas |
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>> see more examples of customized finishing ideas
Finishing ideas: tray lining in cross stitch
Here's a beautiful idea for your cross stitch projects, lining the bottom of a tray with a splendid cross stitch mat. The picture shows the Alsace design from Gracewood Stitches. Any other of the designer's gorgeous patterns from the Vintage Textiles collection would be equally suitable as they can all be adapted to any size of object. Further more you can easily adapt your own colors to suit your home interior hues.
We suggest selecting a tray with vertical sides, which frames the mat neatly.
What can you use a tray for? For serving coffee for sure, but there are plenty of other decorative uses in home decor such as organizing objects on a coffee table, a beside table, a chest of draws...
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Christmas stocking idea Sometimes were amazed at how creative you stitchers are. We recently received this picture from Joyce F. and we could not resist featuring the picture in this news section. Joyce purchased Sylvie Teytaud's design featuring elves decorating a Christmas tree. Here's what Joyce says about her project: "I adapted Sylvie's wonderful design to a needlepoint stocking for my granddaughter. Never have done beading before, which was a challenge! Thank you so much for these darling elves!" Congratulations Joyce, you did a fantastic job adapting the pattern to the size of the stocking. And the beaded garlands add just a little extra glamour to the stocking, making it look real precious. If you too have stitched one of our design and found an interesting way of adapting or finishing your piece, don't hesitate to send us a picture and will share it. It's sure to inspire many other stitchers! >> more finishing ideas for Christmas
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Miniature shaker needlebook Thanks so much to Patricia F. for sharing this picture. She has done an amazing job of stitching two of Barbara Ana's shaker patterns, over one thread, on navy Blue Zweigart Lugana evenweave. The stitched piece was then mounted into a needlebook that measures only 2 1/8 inch x 3 3/8 inch. Extra pages were added inside the book for storing needles. This is an extraordinary piece!  
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Color substitution : overdyed floss  We received this beautiful picture from Jane W. It is a reinterpretation of Marie-Anne Réthoret-Mélin's Red monochrome Scissor and Needlecase and her matching Biscornu pincushion.
This time however the Red DMC variations threads was subsituted with a hand dyed floss, Cottage Garden Threads 'Damask Rose'.The result is stunning, with a very delicate balance of light brown and pink produced by the thread. There's a lovely tassel too, also with a mix of the two colors.  The fun with monochrome patterns like this one is that you can really play around with fabrics and colors and make you piece unique.
Congratulations, Jane, and Thank you so much for sharing your photo with us!
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Tiny and cute: fitting a pattern onto a scissor fob
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Here's an other idea we received from Jenifer:
"I made this adorable scissor fob out of the Barbara Ana "Don't Bug Me I'm Stitching" design. I stitched it 1 over 1 on 28 count evenweave. I also used glow in the dark DMC for the eye's!
Barbara Ana designs are so colorful and fun."
What a great idea! If you're patient enough (and have a good eyesight) you can turn any medium size pattern into a miniature by stitching one over one. This pattern is 41 x 61 stitches (w x h) and turned out 1 1/2 x 2 inches when stitched.
Don't bug me, I'm stitching! by Barbara Ana
Ideas for stitching: Framing a biscornu pattern
  Véronique R. came up with a totally unexpected idea: After stitching Faby Reilly's Poppy biscornu pattern, she found the stitched piece so lovely she decided not to mount it as a biscornu but to frame it instead.
The result is stunning. The stitched piece has a little bit of an Art deco touch that makes a perfect framed piece.
Poppy Biscornu by Faby Reilly
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A recipe book (Personalized Wedding gift)
Maria combined a wedding pattern with a charming couple of cooks (Kiss the cook!) designed by Barbara Ana (in fact the male cook was especially designed for her to complete this project). Adding some personal text, this became a perfect wedding gift!
  
Finishing ideas: recipe book by Maria
View original patterns
>> Barbara Ana: Kiss the cook! (female version)
>> Barbara Ana: kiss the cook (male version)
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Submit your own finishing ideas!
If you have stitched one of our patterns and would like to share your own ideas, please send us a photo using our contact form and select: " Finished pieces: I'd like to share my photo".
We hope to hear from you soon!
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Samantha Purdy Textile
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