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To receive FREE instructions by e-mail for the  Birthday Gift Jar Lid, e-mail your request to: gloria@bluesagepress.com 

 

Cross My Heart: Easy Counted Cross-Stitch Gift Jar Lids e-booklet, with Six Gift Jar Lid Designs, is sold at left.

 E-Book  $3.95 (no shipping)

 

Visit the Blue Sage Press website for a list of all our fun how-to books and e-books about interior decorating, cooking, planning weddings, parties and tea parties, crafting and

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Even if you’ve never attempted cross-stitching before, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to complete the simple designs in this booklet by following my step-by-step instructions. You can make a beautiful, unique gift for someone special in just a few hours.

 

Simply stitch your design, assemble your jar lid, fill your jar with candy, homemade goodies or other items and present your one-of-a-kind gift to the lucky recipient.

 

If you’re not familiar with cross-stitching, it is needlework comprised mainly of “X” shaped stitches formed by running embroidery floss through the holes in an even-weave fabric, such as Aida cloth.

 

All the projects in this booklet use 11-count white Aida cloth, which is sold at most craft and fabric stores. There are six designs that are sized for wide-mouth canning jar lids which fit either 1 quart, 1 pint or half-pint canning jars.

General Counted Cross-Stitch Instructions

 

In counted cross-stitch, you work on a blank canvas, using a design chart that shows you where to place each stitch. On all counted cross-stitch design charts, each symbol represents one cross-stitch, and there is a different symbol for each color of floss in the design. A key for the symbols is shown on each chart. See the sample design chart at right.

 

The horizontal and vertical center of the design is marked with arrows on the chart. Find the center of your Aida cloth square by folding it in half in both directions, horizontally and vertically, creasing the folds. Unfold the fabric and use a straight pin to mark the center. Stitch the design starting in the center, comparing the position of the stitches on the graph to the position on the fabric.

Three-Quarter Cross-Stitch: This stitch is represented exactly as it is labeled. Make a diagonal stitch as you would for a normal cross-stitch, but the second half of the stitch ends at the center, rather than extending to the opposite hole to form an “X”. See the Diagram below. It is used to create angles in the design where a smoother edge is needed, as shown on the balloons in the “Happy Birthday” design chart shown above. The backstitch lines on the design chart will indicate which direction to slant the crossing thread. If no backstitching lines are shown, the three-quarter stitch will be indicated by a smaller version of the symbol in the appropriate corner of the square on the chart.

 

Backstitch: Backstitching is shown on the cross-stitch design charts in heavy black lines. It is done after the cross-stitching is completed, and is used to define shapes by forming a continuous line around them or to create lettering. They can go diagonally, vertically or horizontally across one or more squares on the Aida cloth. The diagram below shows the progression of several stitches, going up at odd numbers and down at even numbers.

 

French Knot: French knots are used in the designs in this booklet to dot the “i’s” in the lettering. To make a French knot, tie a knot in the end of the floss. Bring the needle up from the back of the fabric where indicated on the design chart, and pull the knot against the back of the fabric. Pull the floss taut. With the needle close to the hole it came up through, wrap the floss around the needle one or two times. Hold the remaining floss firmly near the hole, and reinsert the needle close to where the thread first came up. Continue to hold the floss taut with one hand while pushing the needle down through the hole with the other hand. Pull the needle to the back of the fabric, releasing the thread on top just as knot is formed. Tie a knot on the back of the fabric and trim the excess floss. See Diagram below.

Three-Quarter Cross-Stitch

French Knot

The best way to complete your cross-stitches is to pass your needle and thread entirely up through the desired hole in the fabric from the back before bringing it back down through the next hole from the front. This allows you to keep the floss even and does not distort the fabric. Be careful not to pull the stitches too tight.

 

Embroidery floss is made up of six strands of thread. The stitches for the designs in this booklet use either two or three strands of floss. To separate the strands, first cut a length of floss about 18 inches long. Hold the top of the floss between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand. With the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, grasp one thread and pull it from the top of the length of floss. Straighten the remaining threads in the floss, then repeat to remove a second and third strand.

 

Group the threads you have removed together and thread your tapestry needle. You can either knot the end of your thread before stitching or hold about a 1/2-inch tail of floss on the back of the Aida cloth and cross-stitch over it with your first several cross-stitches to secure it. To end a thread, either knot the end or run the floss under several cross-stitches on the back to secure, then cut off the excess thread.

 

In most counted cross-stitch projects, you will use four different stitches to complete your design. These are described below:

 

Cross-Stitch: Each cross-stitch is made up of 2 diagonal stitches that together form an “X”. The bottom stitch is worked from the lower left to upper right. Bring the threaded needle up through the hole on the lower left of the square you want to cover, then down through the hole on the upper right. Following the diagram shown in Figure 1 below, bring the needle up at 1 and down at 2.

 

The top stitch is worked from lower right to upper left. Following the diagram shown in Figure 1 below, bring the needle up at 3 and down at 4. If you have several cross-stitches of the same color in a horizontal row, you can work the bottom stitches first, working from left to right, then complete the “X’s” by working the top stitches from right to left.

◄

▲

/   Medium Blue

=  Dark Blue

•  Yellow

+  Bright Red

○  White

When a vertical row of stitches is appropriate, complete each stitch them proceed to the next, as shown in Figure 2 below, working from the top of the row down to the bottom.

 

No matter how you work the stitches, make sure that all top stitches slant in the same direction.

Backstitch