Cross Stitch

I learned to cross stitch from my grandma when I was really little and have been doing it ever since.  I stay miles away from the typical cute samplers and tend to gravitate towards elegant, antique looking patterns or really unconventional applications.  One of my most recent projects came as I was decorating the bedroom of our new apartment and decided we needed throw pillows everywhere.

I found some amazing striped silk at a discount fabric store (it sells remnants by the pound!) and decided it needed a monogram.  I taped the cross stitch fabric to the inside of the pillowcase and stitched following the grid through both layers of fabric.  It was far more time-consuming than a normal pattern because I couldn't see the grid from the fabric side (it was a lot of flipping back and forth for each stitch), but I think it was more than worth it in the end.

The finished product.  That's my initial and the boyfriend's interlaced in the center.

The pattern I used, and some other beautiful options...

from Antique Pattern Library - the most amazing source for cross stitch, embroidery, crochet etc...