Sometimes you pick up a cross stitch chart or even a cross stitch kit and even though you love the design you just want to make a few changes to it or give it a bit of your own pizzazz! I don’t think I’ve personally ever stitched anything exactly to the charted key, I always add some little something, whether it’s a floss change, a bit of blending filament, or maybe a few beads here and there for texture just to give it that little extra bit of me.
So, let’s talk about a few things you can do to jazz up that new project to make it a little more your own.
Blending Filaments – These are a sparkly shiny thread that you can purchase to give a bit of shimmer to your project. You can thread it into the needle with your floss and stitch that way, or you can thread the blending filament alone and just stitch over top of the current stitches to add a bit of shine in certain places. This adds a great touch to any piece.
Beads and Charms – You can use seed beads in place of french knots or place a few around the outer edge of a design for a nice depth of texture. Charms can also be bought and added anywhere on a piece for a little bit of added “charm”;-)
Specialty Threads – Silk, Rayon, Metallic, Hand Dyed, there are any number of floss types in addition to your regular standard embroidery floss. Swapping out any standard color in your project and using one of these specialty threads in its place can make a huge difference in your finished project.
Take a minute or two today to look through your crafty stash and see what you can add to that work in progress cross stitch project to make it just a little more you. Get creative, have fun, and most of all enjoy what you’re doing.
Kind Regards and Happy Stitches,
P.S. If you need some sparkle and pizzazz to add to your stash do check out our cross stitch threads section before you go!
Great article!
thank you so much! This article is actually available as a reprint article for blogs, newsletters and ezines etc along with a few of my other articles… http://ezinearticles.com/?Making-Small-Changes-to-Your-Cross-Stitch-Pattern-Or-Cross-Stitch-Kit-For-a-Big-Difference&id=4920541
Too true. I’ve added beads to mine, makes it truly unique.
I was always afraid to make changes to my projects, what can I say, I’m a rule follower. I was in a needlework shop, looking for an exact something and the wonderful woman behind the counter told me it was okay to use something else if I could not find an exact match, I was shocked, I had always faithfully followed the pattern instructions. She told me that the Cross Stitch Police would not be coming to my house to make sure that I did everything by the rules and I have made changes to many projects since then, and every time I hesitate, I remember that the Cross Stitch Police are not outside my door.