15 Times Cross-Stitch Was Actually Incredibly Cool
This is not your grandma’s cross-stitch. These projects take the art form of stitching tiny X’s with thread and turn it on its head. Giant painted cross-stitch wall murals, stitched sterling silver bangles, an embroidered IKEA stool – trust me, there’s a lot more to this craft than alphabet samplers.
What to Make Right Now:
Greet your guests with a cross-stitched welcome sign. Designer Beci Orpin created the one above for Frankie magazine – and the blogger Amber Wills shares her how-to on Wills Casa.
A cross-stitch project that involves a drill and an IKEA FROSTA stool? Yes, please. Find the full tutorial at This Little Street.
Colorful criss-crossed washi tape takes the place of yarn in this project Kathy Beymer made for Amy Anderson’s book “Washi Tape Crafts” (Workman).
A painted cross-stitch pegboard is the perfect project for needle-phobic crafters. Find the how-to on Craft & Creativity.
Here’s what to do with all those cane back chairs that are suddenly making a resurgence. Check out the stitch-by-stitch on My Poppet.
Dutch artist Eline Pellinkhof painted this oversized rose wall mural freehand—but don’t worry, you can follow the painting guides at Country Living.
Jump on the subversive cross-stitch bandwagon with a motivational message from House of Miranda. Choose one of the ready-to-display pieces ($40) or order a sassy sentiment to stitch yourself ($15).
Get the look of cross-stitch without any of the work with this patterned removable wallpaper by Red Panda Wall Stickers on Etsy.
This luxury DIY kit by Guillaume Delvigne and Ionna Vautrin is expensive (75 euros), but the experience of stitching through porcelain? That’s priceless.
And Here’s Some Pinspiration:
Who needs throw pillows when your couch is adorned with giant wool stitches? Designer Ellinor Ericsson describes her work as minimal Scandinavian meets more-is-more rococo.
Jewelry designer Caro Baertling shows embroidery’s strong side by stitching through sterling silver bangles.
Charlotte Lancelot’s collection of embroidered rugs, pillows, and ottomans finally turns the dream of living in an entirely cross-stitched room into a reality.
A cube-shaped pegboard table by Ariadne at Home takes cross-stitching into the third dimension.
Don’t limit yourself to a single surface—this giant rose design spotted on Decoratualma spreads across two pegboard panels. (And how awesome are those fork candleholders?)
Cross-stitch ups its street cred with artist Raquel Rodrigo’s floral patterns, which were woven through wire mesh before being place on the facade of a building in Valencia, Spain.
Re-edited from a post originally published on 6.06.16 – AL