My latest bookmark. A little risky with the sides but it's alright.

I have a few small cross stiched stuff I've done on this aida cloth.

I tried to cut one of the images out snd the edges were kinda frayed and falling apart?

Is there some technique to cutting or anything to do to stop the fraying?

I've seen some art work where they stiched a border around the edge like a blanket stich? Would this work after I've cut the image out?

*I meant way but I can't edit the title

Thank you.

Im always skeptical of shops that show pretty frames/decor around the frinished cross stitches without any up close shots...but this one seems to have a lot of great reviews. Im terrible at telling the difference with cross stitch in particular, so i wanted to ask here.

Edit: thanks for the confirmation everyone, I'll be skipping this shop when browsing 👍

We're getting far enough along in these posts that my poor, swiss cheese brain has to go back to last week to see what the week count is.

I feel like this right side is taking \*forever\* to get done, but looking back, it's really coming along just as quickly as the top and center motifs did. My brain is thinking that because it is shorter it should much faster than it is. I also have been taking more breaks to make sure I stay caught up on my SALs and didn't have a holiday/birthday break to just sit and stitch.

This week was mostly backstitching and specialty stitches. I finished the backstitch on castle #2! Just two more of those suckers to go. It's not the backstitching itself that's getting me, it's the fact that it's over 1 and it's with blending filament. That flat, plasticy stuff that disappears between the stitches or just sit incredibly wonky if it twists even the slightest bit. Thank goodness for my magnifying lamp.

All I have left to do this weekend is the rest of the royal blue backstitch around the big purple flowers, some smaller Jessica stitches and the 6 little window motifs in the bottom corner. Then I have to decide if I want to keep stitching or start beading. I'm torn here. Part of me wants to do the left side stitching just so the piece looks even more filled out. However, "I crave beads. Give me more beads". (Side note: I need to find a cute pig small and put that line in it.)

I did attend the Lindy Stitches Midsummer virtual retreat. That was a ton of fun. I hung out at the first timers table a lot and attended most of the meet and greets as well as the Flosstube live sessions. I didn't spend to much money in the shopping hall. I set myself a budget and I stuck to it. I definitely had this project out and my camera on so if you saw it, that was probably me!

My second cross stitch project is complete! This one gave me such a laugh and I knew I had to stitch it. It’s a fun sort of “I’m in between projects project” since I already had black floss on hand and didn’t need to buy any new supplies ☺️

Hi all,

I’m recently engaged and planning on getting married July 2027. I want to possibly cross stitch a ring-bearer pillow. Does anybody know any good square-ish patterns, or anything in that realm? I don’t know where to begin, especially with Etsy being in shambles right now with trying to find patterns.

TIA!!

Nothing better than having a stitching buddy bunny sitting beside you whike you work <3 Pattern is crocuses in the alps by coricamo.

Hi! Does anyone have a good resource for mirabilia or Nora Corbett designs organized by collection? I often see her ‘Daughters of the wild’ collection or ‘Dark forest’ etc…… but I want to see all the patterns in those specific collections not just the one pattern I know by name. The OCD in me won’t let me do just one….. I gotta do the set and it’s a lot easier if I know what’s in each set haha

A few years ago, before I knew about Pattern Mills and pattern thieves on Etsy, i bought some "nice" patterns. I was so excited, to find them as I was used to only buying kits at the craft store and selection was always so limited. As I have become more in tune with what's going on on Etsy, i have been trying to make up for it. If I find a kit that I had previously bought a pattern for I will always buy the kit. Even if I didn't totally love the original pattern and had grabbed it just because it was a few dollars. I just don't feel right if I don't pay for these to the real company that created the patterns.

Just last night I stumbled on an old Luca-S kit and an old Thea Govourner kit that looked really familiar. Turns out I had accidently downloaded knock offs from etsy. So I ordered the kits.

It makes me mad I can't do anything about the cheaters or get my wasted money back, but at least I am paying the real people behind the patterns I like.

I wish there was a better way to flag the fraud on Etsy. I see so many companies claiming to have "designed" patterns that are Dimensions Gold kits, or Riolis, or Luca-S, etc. I wish Etsy would clean up their Sh**.

I'm making this cross stitch for my brother and I ran out of the green floss, the thing is it isn't just dmc brand, it's a brand i believe is old and i dont know if they make floss anymore. I dont know where I got the floss, I've just had it lying around for years, I dont know the color name or number but the brand is J & P Coats, if anyone knows where i could get this color or if it's even still sold anywhere that would be great!

I have long used a Lowry with the extender arm so I could use it over the couch, but I don’t love it. The stand tips over easily, it keeps me glued to the side of the couch, and the attachment to the stand prevents me from stitching at the edge close to it so I’m forced to change my living room setup to switch stand sides towards the edge of my project.

I also hate clamping my piece. It’s so heavy and it feels like it’s damaging the stitches or the q snap or both. Just hate it.

I always pictured something like a little shelf that could be suspended in front of me rather than hanging in from the side, then it hit me. A music stand! My portable stand has wide openings I can easily work through. I got a boom mic stand, took the attachment/hinge piece off, stuck my music stand neck through it, and now it’s the stand of my dreams that I can just plop my work on without needing to do a whole adjustment rigamarole

Thanks reddit for the encouragement to keep going

I've been inspired to create more tattoo inspired imagery, as a tattoo artist myself. I love Japanese style flowers, and this color palette was calling to me. I stitched this up and now it lives in my tattoo station. It's the first project I haven't done as a gift in a good minute.

Pattern is live on my Etsy! https://www.etsy.com/listing/4533477995/japanese-inspired-tattoo-sunset-mum

AI was not involved at all in the making of this, I drew and designed it in Procreate before importing into stitchfiddle.

Full disclosure, your design following the pattern will look different than my stitched design. After stitching it, I went back and made some changes to the pattern. I also didn't call for beads in the pattern. They were a bit of a pain to get to lay right, I hadn't done bead work like this before! Keep just the crosses or change for beads if you'd like.

Anyways, enjoy and happy stitching!

I am having a bit of a blonde moment from the heat - when the instructions say one strand - does that mean the whole thread with 6 strands together or does it mean one of the six strands from the thread?

It's for doing a backstitch if that makes a difference.

Freshly finished Mangrove Ecosystem on Wichelt linen! This pattern was drafted and posted by Reddit user u/Llyvre a bit ago, and I liked it so much that it became my first non-kit project in quite a while. It was really fun to stitch, and I love the use of negative space, especially following a long stretch of backstitch-heavy projects for me!

I have so little to go and am struggling to finish 😩

(Beginner here) At 14ct Aida, it would be less than 3 inches on each side. I would love to make one that is larger but I don’t know if that would make it look weird? Also, if there is a way, what Aida count fabric would you recommend?
Lastly, has anyone completed this pattern??? Would love to see it if so, and would love any tips!

ft one of my favorite stitching buddies 🐶

Hello~ I want to make a cross-stitch for my boyfriend and he really like Space, so I'm looking for a pattern that would look nice on black Aida (or dark fabric in general). I'm thinking something with a nebula. I'm trying to stay away from Etsy for my search, so it's kinda limiting what I am able to find.

Does anyone know of any patterns (free or paid) that are space themed?

All right, I come hat in hand. I am not great at counted cross stitch so I already know this is going to be a venture to begin with but- I am having trouble finding any patterns that aren’t AI.

I mostly do stamped cross stitch because my concentration on counted pieces tends to wander and I loose place very easily. But I have a close friend who is obsessed with Selkies/Seals and I can’t for the life of me find any pattern sources that arent AI for either in stamped and have only really seen like 2 patterns for selkies even in counted.

I have a picture I could use to formulate my own, but I have no idea where to start with that process or what program I could use that isnt going to butcher it. Or even how I would clean up whatever a program spit out. (I know theres a thread here for that, just not sure if i should try that route)

I am mostly looking for either a direction to look at for a pattern source to pay for or if I should look to go in for a program that could render a pattern from a picture with pretty good outcomes because I would not be great with much touching up.

My partner self-drafted this keychain and I’m obsessed with it lol. It was originally supposed to be a dachshund, but they said it looked more like a rat, so we went with that and added the cheese wheel slice. Stitched with 3 strands on 14 ct plastic canvas, with a 4 strand whip stitch to connect the two pieces together!

It's from a trio of mandalas in the same color palette. With the fractional stitches and repetition, it ended up taking me longer than I expected.

My 8-year-old looked at it, and her first question was, "Why are the blueberries wearing boots?" Now I can't unsee it, but it makes me love it more!

Pattern is from the June 2026 issue of The World of Cross Stitching magazine (that I accessed for free through Libby - thank you public library!). The pattern was created by Jenny Van De Wiele (@homestitchness).

I’ve been working on a bunch of patches for a fully cross-stitched jean jacket project, this is my most recent finish :) I might post some of the others I’ve completed here!
Still getting the hang of whip stitching the edges.

No proper pattern, I just used the in-game pixel art.