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7 Jul 2016

Cross-stitch love


It may or may not come as a surprise to you but I am a relatively new sewist, having bought my first sewing machine only 4 years ago. But I have been cross-stitching since I was 10 - it's really where my love of sewing first started from. Over the last 30 odd years I have finished dozens of cross-stitch projects, and also several big needlepoint projects too (using tapestry wool on canvas). I may share those old projects with you some day - the earliest ones are pretty funny to look at now as my teenage self clearly had a thing for garish colours!


I added some new cross-stitch books to my library recently, which rekindled my love for cross-stitch. There are some cute mini-motif books by Susan Bates & Jane Prutton, published by my own publisher Tuva, and three books by French artists Helene Le Berre and Veronique Enginger.  I always have a cross-stitch project on the go these days alongside my regular bloggy sewing work - that, and crochet are what I like to do on my 'me-time' and on the couch in the evenings (well not right now as I'm resting my wrists after a flare up of my carpal tunnel, as you may have seen on my Instagram feed. I'm slowly getting better.)

Here are some projects I completed recently - three pincushions which were gifts for sweet friends, and a panel which I am not sure what I'm going to do with, so any suggestions would be welcome! The bunny pattern is a free one from here, the other two pincushion patterns are from 'Friandises & Patisseries' by Helene Le Berre, and the 'Love' panel is from the same author's 'Le Langage Des Fleurs'.


If you are a cross-stitcher and haven't yet discovered Helene Le Berre and Veronique Enginger, go check them out on Google or Pinterest. Such elegant designs! Their older books are a bit hard to find but I managed to find these three on ebay and Amazon, and have a few more on their way to me.


Here is a little appetiser for you from these books. These are all designs that I want to make, in fact I had just started the macarons one when my wrists started acting up, so that's the one I am working on right now.


Hope you enjoyed a little bit of cross-stitch inspiration today and thank you so much for visiting!

10 comments:

  1. I started cross stitching when I was about 8. Definitely an inspiring post making me want to cross stitch! Need to get more boos in my stash. :)

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  2. Just love all of these cross-stitch designs!! I have always loved cross-stitch, and am finished a picture at the moment. Thank you for sharing these lovely projects!

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  3. These are so lovely! I've been cross-stitching since I was about six. I've put it aside in favor of my quilting obsession for now, but I'll get back to it eventually. :)

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  4. Oh my gosh! You are excellent!
    All of these are just beautiful.

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  5. Thank you for re-igniting my interest in cross-stitch! I shall order one of these scrumptious book and dust off my tapestry needles :)

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  6. These books/designs are so lovely! Beautiful work. I cross stitch a little bit and enjoy it, but it's hard on my eyes and my hands (I, too, have hand problems - tendonitis and it's so sad when we need our hands - especially for our hobbies). Truly, your work is gorgeous. Thanks for your great posts and inspiration. I, just may have to hunt down these books too. Rest those hands.

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  7. << I may share those old projects with you some day>> PLEASE do .. Although I love looking at the modern things people are making sometimes it's really nice to see 'vintage'

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  8. Sedef, these are stunning! If I had access to designs like these, I'd return to x-stitch! So elegant without looking dated! Yummy!

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  9. Your work is beautiful and these designs are amazing! I love to cross-stitch. The link to the free bunny pattern says it is to an invite only blog?

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    1. Yes, it appears they have now restricted that blog to limited readers, I can't access it either. Shame - it's such a lovely pattern!

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