I was obsessed with counted cross-stitch when I was little. I don't remember all that I did, but I do have vivid memories of
Endangered Young'uns. I remember going to the craft store (*sigh...in the U.S. everything is so
easy!), picking out fabric, finding all the numbers of DMC thread I needed, and I even remember stepping on a needle that was hiding in our shag carpet (in my Strawberry Shortcake socks....I was very young). I sat on the couch and work for hours and hours. No wonder I was an easy child (....in my mind).
I found a counted cross-stitch kit at a thrift store here and it made me curious. I hadn't known anyone to cross stitch since the 90's. Could it ever be
cool again? Thanks to pinterest, I discovered
these family portraits from Martha Stewart. Adorable. I ended up making a giant one for my parents for Christmas, and several more for family and friends.
It starts by making a sketch on graph paper. In the beginning, this was the part that was the most fun, but that slowly waned as I really wanted to get stitching. I've found that the more of these I have done, the less I have to 'plan' and the more I am able to just sew-as-I-go.
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The first drafts of these are hilarious to look at, like how I made my mom a midget or or my brother a disco king. |
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This was my first embroidery project in the 21st century |
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Detail |
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I thought I had captured these three girls perfectly. The week after I gave this to them, two of the girls cut and donated their long hair to locks of love. It needs revision :) |
It's a creative way to remember, honor, and pray loved ones near and far. Plus, it makes me very detail oriented. How long is so-and-so's hair right now? What's their favorite color? What makes them unique? I've found that men/boys in are difficult in particular (and let's face it....kind of boring), but it's fun to keep tweaking the figures to get them *just* right. At least my perception of them, which, in the case of my family, is after on and a half years away and mostly through Skype and FB. Not bad!
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