Antique charm - in cross stitch.jpg)
ur grandmothers and great-grandmothers owned beautiful hand-stitched house linen, embellished with white work monograms, openwork and other embroidery stitches. Often they had stitched the pieces themselves. While these pieces are exceptionally beautiful, very few stitchers today have the time and patience to master those techniques and to complete these types of projects.
The good news is that you can achieve an antique look in cross stitch.Our designers have brought to you a beautiful collection of modern cross stitch patterns with antique charm. These patterns are based only on cross stitch and backstitch but provide similar styles and effects as the beautiful pieces of the past.
The elegance of monograms
Back in the late 19th and early 20th century, ornamental letters, or monograms were the most popular embellishment used on house linen. Usually the initials of the young girl, or if she was planning her wedding, the initials of both families, appear on handkerchiefs, tablecloths, napkins, sheets, pillow covers.
The fist step a young girl would take is to stitch a whole alphabet that would later serve as a guide. Similar letters such a "I" and "J" were often stitched only once.
White Lace ABC - cross stitch pattern - Design Féeféedille To the right: available in cross stitch, a full alphabet of Monograms that looks beautiful mounted as a cushion. Use it also to stitch initials onto anything your fancy (box cover, pouch, terry towels); This makes great personalized gifts!
Create an
antique frame for some old family pictures
Have you got any old photos that need framing? A piece of linen fabric will look perfect with any Black and White or sepia photograph. Why not scan some and enlarge them. Old photographs often have a lot of detail but were rarely printed out in a large size. you'll be amazed what you can get out of them!
Now if you're looking for a pretty frame, here's a beautiful stitched one designed by Chouett'alors.
Romantic, romantic (photo frame) - a cross stitch pattern designed by Chouett'alors
Lace-like effects
This pattern shows how you can create some exquisite lace-like pieces. Designer Agnès Delage-Calvet worked this design entirely in cross stitch and backstitch. Note that this piece was stitched on some linen Aida fabric. This makes the backstitching much easier. Linen Aida has the great look an color of linen, yet the Aida weave makes for easy stitching. It's worth a try if you are not accustomed to stitching on linen.
Old Lace trimmings
You can give a piece of stitching an antique look by adding some vintage lace trimmings. The project shown here is a set of 3 pieces (purse, glass case and tissue pouch) cross stitched and embellished with a lace ribbon. A pattern by
Tams' Creations.
Granny's handbag set - a cross stitch pattern by Tam's Creations
Stitching on linen fabric - and alternatives
Linen fabric provides a unique feel to any stitching project and it perfect for an antique look.
Linen Aida or Fiddler's Cloth can be a good alternative if you're not used to stitching on linen or want to complete your project quickly.
Linen is usually stitched "over two threads" and if you have never tried it, we suggest you start with a quick and easy project.
Stitching on linen Aida is easy because your cross stitch is simply worked over an Aida block. So you will be able to tackle much larger or complex pieces. And you can achieve great results as in the 4 stitched pieces above, all stitched on linen Aida. (DMC 14ct in color 842)
>> learn more about cross stitching on linen
Stain your fabric
Stain you fabric with walnut, coffee, tea, onion peel will give your work a unique antique and vintage feel. Most stitchers prefer to stain the fabric before they start stitching. Designer Barbara Ana love to give an antique feel to her patterns. In the case shown here, not only did she stain the fabric lightly with walnut, she also selected a rustic cotton with an irregular warp and weft.
Sadie Woods sampler by Barbara Ana
Mix and match old and new pieces
If you have any pieces of antique embroidered linen that are already quite damaged , try salvaging the best embroidered parts and using them to compose a patchwork; add pieces of your own stitching such as monograms or patterns with a similar look. The finished project will be absolutely unique and could make a fantastic gift for one of your loved ones,
Lace monogram pinkeep Agnès Delage-Calvet (alphabet included)
More Antique looks
Browse down this page for more patterns with lots of old-fashioned charm. You may also want to visit the following pages:
>> Samplers (includes many reproduction samplers)
>> Alphabets & monograms
All patterns on Creative Poppy's website are printable and available for instant download.
Price in £, €: to view price in POUNDS / EUROS…, select a currency in top right section of this page
Samantha Purdy Textile
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