Cross Stitching Detail Tutorial

So, I love cross stitching! It's fun, relaxing, and great to work on in the evenings. My favorite patterns are from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and I originally saw this idea over on The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's facebook page. I loved the concept and I needed a few more things to add to a baby gift that I was working on for one of my dear friend's soon to be arriving baby girl. I set about figuring out how to add the cross stitching to the onesies and thought I would share how I made it happen. Note: the patterns are all parts from different patterns from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery: The Woodland Sampler (the deer), The 12 Days of Christmas (ballet slippers) and The Summer Sampler (the aloha girl).

Materials Needed:

Cross Stitch pattern
Onesie or other fabric that you are embellishing (Onesies are a knit but you could easily use a woven)
Thread that goes with your pattern
Scissors
Needle
Thread Heaven (totally optional but I really love using it to condition my thread)
DMC Water Soluble Cross Stitch Canvas
Lightweight one-sided fusible interfacing (I used a white knit)
Embroidery hoop
Candy Thermometer (optional)
Laundry detergent

Let's get started shall we! The first thing I recommend is to read the instructions for your canvas. I am super frugal when it came time to cut the canvas (It is a small piece and I didn't really want to waste any of it, after completing three onesies I still have about half left. Of course if you were doing a big design you'll go through it faster.) How I cut the canvas was first I counted my pattern for the exact amount of stitches on the height and width and wrote those down. Next I added about 4 extra stitches to that. (Ex. if my original measurements were 31 x 32 I cut a piece that measured 35 x 36 Tip: I used a sharpie to mark it and then cut)

Next comes the fun part, I started by laying my canvas fairly centered on the onesie and ran large basting stitches (in contrasting thread and making sure not to go through both layers) around the perimeter. If needed you can use a few pins to hold it down while basting. I really tried not to stretch the knit but kept it flat. Then I put on my embroidery hoop and began stitching my pattern.

I like to start stitching from the corner but you can probably start where ever. I would recommend starting from the center if you want it to be centered as possible. I was really sort of winging it but they turned out pretty centered. Mostly I noticed that the onesies were a little lopsided so I roughly estimated the center.

Once your done with your design remove the basting stitches and the embroidery hoop. It will then look something like the above photo. I waited to remove the canvas until I had all three of my designs done.

Here they are ready to take a bath in some warm soapy water...

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for removing the canvas. With the help of a candy thermometer I got the temp of the water to the right point, mixed in a little laundry detergent, added the onesies, swirled them around and made sure all the canvas came off. I let them air dry afterwards. Now technically you could stop here and be done with the project, but the back of my cross stitch was a little messy and I thought with all the washings and being close to a little baby's skin it should have a little extra protection.

I took a small piece of fusible knit interfacing and ironed it on using a pressing cloth to the wrong side of the onesie. This helps to secure all the threads and keep it soft on the baby's skin. Hopefully, this will also help it through it's many washings.

Here's how they all turned out!