Craft Rocks two dogs

Craft Rocks: Quick Cross Stitch Pendant Project

Craft enthusiast Jo Burgess explores the world of needlecraft in this exclusive column for Mr X Stitch!

Quick Cross Stitch Pendant

You know when you buy stuff and then find it again years later? Yeah. During a lockdown clear out of my craft drawers I found some funky copper look pendants I think I bought at a bead fair about 10 years ago. 

quick cross stitch pendant
Remember buying these? Nope. Me neither, but aren’t they fabulous!

They are nice and deep so of course my first thought was to put some sewing in them but I thought fabric might be a bit flimsy. Then I remembered I had some leftover plastic sheet in my drawer you can use for cross stitch – again, bought years ago. Never throw anything crafty away people, you could make a quick cross stitch pendant!

This little copper frame is crying out for some lovely cross stitchy goodness inside it!

Perfect. So I measured it up and cut it to the right size for the pendant. 

Craft Rocks: Quick Cross Stitch Pendant Project
The frame used the perfect 12 by 12 stitch piece of plastic

The square pendant gave me a perfect 12 x 12 square to sew in. So I turned to a fun book a friend bought me a few years ago, Mega Mini Cross Stitch by Makoto Oozu. It’s a book full of fun little cross stitch patterns. 

Craft Rocks: Quick Cross Stitch Pendant Project
This book is a great source for tiny patterns of all kinds from animals to technology

There were some very cool patterns of retro electronics but sadly they were slightly too big to fit the frame, so I settled on a little French Bulldog and got stitching. The plastic is 12 count and I used four threads at a time to make the dog appear as 3D in the pendant frame as possible.

Craft Rocks: Quick Cross Stitch Pendant Project
Just a few stitches makes such a big impact

Look at his little face coming together! When he was finished I used some double sided tape to stick him in the frame. I used Gorilla Glue Heavy Duty Double Sided Mounting Tape – there was no way that dog was ever going to move, it was so strong. The tape is also quite thick so it meant the dog stood out a bit from the back of the frame. It is also invisible so you cannot see it through the holes which were unfilled. I did think about filling those holes in, but I like having them visible to make it more obvious that the dog is stitched.

Craft Rocks: Quick Cross Stitch Pendant Project
A happy finished dog in his new dog house

And here he is. Say bonjour to Louis the French Bulldog. Isn’t he a cutie. And he took less than an hour to make once I settled on a pattern. You’ve got to love a quick craft. It would make a great last minute gift for a friend.

Craft Rocks: Quick Cross Stitch Pendant Project
The finished quick cross stitch pendant! And he’s made a big friend already 🙂

If you only had a tiny square like that to stitch in, what would you put in there?

Cost:

Total: 40p without the book, £8.40 with the book

Best cake for this project: Pound cake (because it’s such a cheap make)

Best song for this project: Hound Dog by Elvis

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Over to you! What quick cross stitch craft projects have you completed lately?

 

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