Cross Stitch Bookmarks
From LoveToKnow Crafts
Making cross stitch bookmarks is an easy craft for people learning to cross stitch. It is a quick and relatively easy project for gift giving and you can make the whole project yourself.
You can always buy a kit to make your cross stitch bookmark that will include the fabric, thread and instructions, or you can choose your own pattern and make a bookmark design yourself.
Choosing a Cross Stitch Bookmark Design
There are many possibilities for designing a cross stitch bookmark. You can include a flower motif, a character, the person’s name, a cute animal or just about anything else you want on your cross stitch bookmark.
The best designs are vertical because that is the way the cross stitch bookmark will be used. You can also use a horizontal design, but vertical is more traditional.
You can find free patterns for cross stitch bookmarks all over the web. Here are a few sources:
- All Free Crafts has a greyhound motif bookmark.
- Design Stash has a great collection of cross stitch bookmarks, if you scroll about halfway down the page. These are nice because they have a triangle shape built into the bottom, which makes them a little different.
- Michaels has a cut butterfly bookmark stitched on a pre-made bookmark form with lacy edges. There’s another project for a bookmark that would be great for a teacher and one with violets. Search the website for more bookmarks, including lighthouses, Uncle Sam and Halloween, Easter and St. Patrick’s Day motifs.
- Eternasilk has a great Celtic cross design that would make a nice bookmark.
Cross Stitch Bookmark Basics
- Make your bookmark at least two and a half inches wide. That will give you a decent amount of room to stitch in without making the bookmark unwieldy.
- The length should be from eight to nine inches. Most hardcover books are around nine inches long. If the person you are giving the bookmark to reads a lot of paperback books, you can give them a shorter bookmark. Just don’t make it so short that you run out of room for your design!
- Pick a motif that will mean something to the person you are giving the bookmark to. If it is to encourage a child to read, perhaps you should stitch their favorite Disney character. For a gardener, stitch some pretty flowers. Use the person’s favorite color, or just stitch their name in a cool alphabet such as Celtic, lady bugs or many, many others.
Making Your Own Cross Stitch Bookmarks
If you want to make your own cross stitch bookmarks, you can cut your own cross stitch fabric to the desired size. Top prevent the edges from raveling, stitch a narrow piece of binding or ribbon around the edges.
For a different look, cut your fabric a little larger than you want your finished bookmark to be, unravel the edges by hand and then secure with a fray stopping product.
Cut out a piece of graph paper the same size as your bookmark and draw out your design, using an alphabet or other design from the Internet or a cross stitch book as your starting point. Leave a little white space around the edges if desired.
Stitch the bookmark as neatly as possible. You can always cover the back with a piece of stiff ribbon, card stock or cardboard if you don’t want your mess to show, but you should try to keep your work flat on the back so whatever backing you like will stick evenly.
Jazz up your cross stitch bookmark by making the top and bottom triangle shapes instead of straight lines. You could also make a curved bookmark. Add a tassel, a string of beads or any other kind of bauble you like.
Making cross stitch bookmarks is a quick and easy way to make individualized gifts for any occasion. That doesn’t mean they can’t be elaborate and beautiful. Use your imagination to pick a pattern that your recipient will really love and have fun stitching up a storm!
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