Special Christmas Embroidery Pattern

December 22, 2022 2 Comments

Esi developed this cute little embroidery design that could be added to anything from our 109 Little Folks dresses to aprons to tea towels.  Repeat the design to be as long as you want (embroider a table cloth!).  This is a simple and quick cross-stitched design with Christmas trees and poinsettias that finishes at about 5-3/8" x 2-7/8" (13.6cm x 7.3cm).  We suggest colors (green, red, and yellow/gold), but use your imagination to come up with some vintage or sparkly colors schemes!

You can find the pattern, with instructions at this link (PDF).  And we have instructions below as well, though you will need to download or print the pattern from the link to see the design.

Materials:

• #10 Penelope scrim, blue line, or waste canvas. Do not use mono canvas.
• #5 or #8 Perle cotton or 2 or 3 strands of 6-strand floss in your preferred colors.

Cut Scrim
Cut scrim strips at least ½”/13mm larger on all sides than design area. See specific garment designs for actual sizes needed.

Prepare scrim
Presoaking scrim makes it much easier to remove after stitching is completed, but you don't have to presoak it.  Soak in cold water for about 5 minutes to soften. Do not wring. Lay out on a towel and straighten grain of scrim so it will dry true. When dry, or nearly so, press, taking care not to pull grid lines askew.
Note: Soaking shrinks some scrim slightly, up to one hole per inch, thereby reducing the finished size of the design by 1/10th. Designs included in this pattern should be relatively unaffected by this.

Attach scrim
Pin in place matching grain of scrim with grain of fabric. Baste to fabric. 

Begin stitching
Start at the top, center of the design (of each figure) and work outward. Holes in scrim correspond to + on graph, as needle passes through the hole only, and must not catch threads of the scrim. Each graph square represents one Cross Stitch, 10 sts per inch = 10 holes per inch. Use a #10 crewel embroidery needle, and take great care not to catch threads of the canvas, but to pass through the fabric below. Pull stitches up snugly to compensate for removal of scrim. Begin and end threads by running 1”/2.5cm tails under completed stitches on wrong side of fabric.

Stitching
Cross Stitch as indicated on graphs on the design, starting at the center top of each design.  It is important to cross the stitches in the same direction. You may work the first half of the stitch in vertical or horizontal rows, crossing on the return course. In small areas it is generally easier to cross each stitch individually (figures on left below).

Remove scrim
When design is completed, remove basting and fray edges of the scrim so you can grasp the ends one at a time and carefully pull the threads straight out. Pull shorter edges first, holding embroidery near pulling place to avoid distortion. If you have not used presoaked scrim, you will probably have to wet the entire area to loosen weave of scrim. Any scrim threads which have been caught by embroidery must be delicately cut out. In embroidered areas given in this pattern, there is little likelihood of distortion which might require blocking.

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