Since it takes me awhile to complete a crafty project due to my lack of spare time, most of mine are in a state of progress. I’m usually constantly working on something though, so I want to start sharing more of things in an unfinished state. Here is what I’m currently working on:
This is a Victorian flower found in an issue of Cross Stitcher magazine. I’ve been working on it for close to a year, only because it keeps getting put on hold. But I just have the bottom right part to finish now, and I don’t think it will take too much longer. Here is a close up:
I’m looking forward to getting this done and framed, and eventually hung up in our bedroom.
I also want to share with you how I am organizing my cross stitch projects now. Before this I just threw everything in a bag, and I had my floss in all different states – some new skeins, some wrapped on a bobbin. It was fine, but it got a little messy and hard to find things. For Christmas my mom gave me the DMC Stitchbow travel bag, extra binder inserts, and lots of floss holders. I’m in love with it.
Inside it has a large pocket where I store my pattern or book that I’m working from (seen on the right, above) and the threads that I’m using for the project get loaded straight onto the floss holders and into the binder inserts. It’s way less work than winding a bobbin and it keeps the thread in better shape, too.
There are also more pockets inside where I store floss that I had previously wound on bobbins, plus a small spot where I keep my scissors and the floss I’m working with at the moment. There is a felt strip attached where you can store extra needles, too.
I think this is an awesome way to store projects and I have already ordered the mini version for smaller ones. It works great for me because I try hard to only work on one thing at a time and I use almost exclusively DMC floss. I think it would still work well for other brands of floss too, or even to use a project card stored in a pocket and remove the binder inserts (which is what I plan to do when I work on this project, for example). Originally I thought I would be able to store all my floss in here, but it’s rather too small for that and it would take too much rearranging of the pockets to keep in order.
Anyway, I hope this was interesting to one or two of you! :)
From Sarah:
This is cool! I also just toss all my stuff in a bag and hope my floss doesn’t get too tangled. I need something like this for sure.
From Sarah @ Beauty School Dropout:
This is great! I’m new to cross-stitching (and self-taught) so I didn’t even know stuff like this little organizational thing existed. Thank you for sharing! I am thisclose to finishing up a cross-stitch piece for my baby niece… I’ll post photos as soon as I’m done!
From Nora:
You are so talented; I’ve never done a cross stitch project that wasn’t pre-stamped. I have a baby blanket that I’ve been working on off and on for a few years. My joke is that by the time we finally have a kid maybe, just maybe, the blanket will be done :)
My crafty time of any kind has really taken a nose dive in the last month. If 2014 can stabilize a bit for me, I plan to get back to it.
From Melanie:
Looks like a handy organizer! This reminds me I should get my 10 year old started with cross-stitch, she has been wanting to sew.
From Cristin @ Eve of Reduction:
Kathleen, this is a very smart way to organize your thread! I’ve been busy with several cross stitch projects and right now just have my floss in a tin box. Thanks!
From Liz:
I am working in this pattern too! It’s funny, I think I am stitching in the opposite direction: top to bottom.
I store my floss on bobbins, in numerical order, in clear plastic boxes that have dividers. I usually just pull them out one-by-one as I’m working on a project.
I also like the big metal jump rings that sometimes come with the plastic bobbins. I use them to store the floss bobbins that go with a project if I bring it to work, or just to hang on my lamp where I stitch so they’re handy.
From Liz:
Whoops, I meant bottom-to-top.