Someone in my family (don’t remember who) first taught me to to cross-stitch sometime in elementary school. Since then, cross-stitching has been a consistent presence in my life. The years have been full of cross-stitch projects started (and never finished) at my grandma’s house, sewing classes that always seem to start with a cross-stitch project, and cross-stitch gifts that my aunt gives us all every Christmas. I mean, she has been cross-stitching for literal decades and her cross-stitch game is truly on a whole other level of dopeness. So, this past weekend, I was feeling nostalgic at Joann Fabric and Crafts and grabbed myself this cross-stitch kit. I changed the colors to something with a little more pizzazz, asked my aunt some very preliminary questions, and then got started! Here are all my materials.
When cross-stitching, you stitch one color at a time. As you add more colors, the picture begins to take shape.
Maroon/Burgundy/Whatever
Pink
Yellow: I was VERY conflicted as I started to add the yellow. I knew the colors looked good together in life BUT I didn’t know if I liked how the yellow looked with the other colors in the picture. However, once I added all the yellow, I LOVED it!
Greens, Grey
Blue!
The last color I added was blue. I wasn’t really feeling the way the blue was in the pattern, so I followed my bliss and turned it from an accent color to a background extravaganza!
Here is a behind the scenes view of my beautiful rose.
I am really happy with the way it turned out! I am glad I took some creative liberties with the colors and pattern, though I thought the original pattern/colors were beautiful as well. Cross-stitch kits are cool because the kit tells you exactly what to do, and you can either follow the instructions, or not. Either way, you’ll end up with something cool and pretty and old-timey.
All told, it took me about 10-11 hours of pretty consistent stitching to complete this. Almost surprisingly, I really enjoyed working on it (though I totally understand why my younger self was absolutely not trying to cross-stitch). It got addicting watching the picture take shape with the addition of each color. I can’t wait to do another one!
Compulsive Creation 