CrossStitcher September 2020

Designed by: Susan Penny Stitch count: 26 high x 47 wide (each side) Design size: 5x9cm (2x3½in) Stitch time: 9 hours This design was stitched on 14 count aida fabric. LAZY DAISY STITCH To work lazy daisy stitch, bring your needle up, then put the needle down next to where it just came up. Don’t pull the thread all the way through to the back, instead leave plenty of thread to make the loop of the petal. Bring the needle up at the length that you want your petal to be, ensuring your needle is coming up inside the loop. Now pull tight and continue with more petals until you have a full daisy. EXCLUSIVE READER KITS! You can send off for a handy kit containing all the materials you need to make these projects. Simply visit…

WE HOPE THESE strange times have sparked a new interest in stitching. We have heard from so many of you who have picked up a needle again after a long break, or turned to teaching youngsters at home how to cross stitch when so many of their other activities can’t take place. Now we are into the official school holidays, it would be nice to think that the cry of “I’m bored!” could be replaced with “what can I stitch next?” We can only dream… Of course, many pieces of antique stitching were made by girls as young as eight. Their ‘samplers’, or practice pieces, are quite magical and often influence what we stitch today. In these very pages you’ll find the third of our seasonal sampler series (on page 38).…

Autumn dreams Featuring earthy autumn pastels and patterns, Maple Farm gives a gentle take on the season’s colours for stitchers. Berries and leaves combine with classic and retro florals in delicious shades such as Umber, Dijon, Slate, Mauve and Rosehip. The full range includes ribbons, fabrics, soft toy sewing kits, buttons and labels and there’s even a Tiny Farm mini range of items for kids. For more details and to find out who is your nearest stockist visit www.tildasworld.com. BATHTIME BABIES MAKE BATH time extra fun with Rico’s new Baby Terrycloth Embroidery Book, No. 171. There’s a host of designs to stitch directly onto terry towelling items with aida panels featuring animal friends, from a cute tiger and hippopotamus to whales, swans and much more! To find out your nearest Rico stockist visit…

“My name is Helen and I live in Kent. This is my craft space. I have a corner of my room with a huge bookcase full of all my crafts that I love doing. Cross stitch is my first love with craft, but it’s given me the confidence to try many other things like weaving, embroidery and crochet. In my living room I have a craft trolley and my beautiful sewing basket, I tend to fill these things with my current projects. I like to have a few on the go, depending on what I fancy doing.” Drop us a line to crosssstitcher@warnersgroup.co.uk with images of your craft space and a few words about it and our favourites could be featured in a future issue!…

Hullo! In starting this cross-stitched bookmark series, I’m finding myself sitting and reading more often. My current stitching projects seem a little annoyed, but I hadn’t realised how much the habit had fallen away from me–or just how much I missed reading about magic and adventure! The one thing that really pulls me into any story is detail–the more there is, the better! Some people criticise writers like Tolkien for spending pages and pages describing minute detail, but I find it adds so much nuance and meaning to a story when you understand intricate and intimate details. To honour those who, like me, love a bit of detailing, I’ve created a blackwork pattern this month. I find the details of most things in life are what make them special. This multi-sensory experience…

FLORAL FOLK ART IN CROSS STITCH DURENE JONES [Tuva Publishing] Our very own designer, Durene Jones, has released another of her popular series of cross stitch titles with Tuva. Here, with a range of floral folk art designs, she’s kept things simple with most charts using only whole cross stitch, plus backstitch is kept to a minimum. You can stitch small designs to make for tags, pincushions, key fobs and cards, or go for larger motifs which are ideal for notebook covers, pictures, fire screens or tablecloths. STITCH 50 DOGS ALISON J REID [David & Charles] Sewup the plushest of pups with these adorable ideas from Alison J Reid. She asks you to “Set tails wagging with this canine collection of easy sewing patterns for adorable dog designs, all made using simple hand-sewing…