Cross Stitch Baby Birth Announcement Project-Present

A Present for Aléxias

Cross Stitch Birth Announcment for my niece, Aléxias

In few weeks, I will be an auntie for the first time of a baby girl named Aléxias (baby due: January 23rd). To celebrate her birth, I have been working on a cross stick baby birth announcement project. This project was done by completing a cross stick baby birth announcement and painting a wooden "frame".

The little baby girl was born on Thursday, January 17th, 2013! 

• Cross Point Pattern:

The cross stitch baby birth announcement that I picked for the special occasion is called "Baby Feet" from Janlynn. It is a cute, simple, and very easy cross stitch pattern to do. The cross point was made using an ivory Aida 14 count and DMC threads. I did not quiet follow the template for the placement of the name and date. I got that pattern several years ago when my best friend gave birth to a baby boy and made it as a present. I like the design so much that I have made a few "Baby Feet" birth announcement since then  ;-). This time, it was for a baby girl and my niece.

Side View of the Painted Hoop

• Frame:

This time, I wanted to come up with a different framing than a rectangular one. The finished size of the cross point is 5" by 7". So, I had this vision of a painted circular frame using a wooden hoop. I got a 8 inch wooden embroidery hoop with a height of 1/2 an inch, a matching color from the thread's letters for the paint color (purple or Concord Grape # 20595 acrylic paint by Apple Barrel), and some gloss (medium) for acrylic paint. After sanding the hoop, applying 2 quotes of the purple, and 1 quote of gloss, I was done. I only applied paint on the visible parts of the hoop. The purple is a rich color which adds some character to the cross point.

• Assembling:

First, I centered the Aida in the hoops and tightened the screw to have it nicely secure. Second, I cut the extra Aida on the back of the cross stitch. To execute this part, I folded the extra Aida sticking out of the hoops all the way down to the bottom of the inner hoop and carefully cut it. Third, I hot glued gun the extra Aida on the inner hoop. I applied the glue carefully on the top of the hoop and pressed down the Aida on the wooden hoop. I also thought about applying some Elmer glue with a brush but I went with the hot glue gun. I was a bit afraid on ruining the cross stitch by applying too much glue but I was very careful by only putting a thin layer of hot glue and repeated the process several times until the Aida was nicely glued on the inner hoop. Make sure to apply so glue on the top of the empty space where the screw is to have the Aida nice and flat.

View of the Back After Gluing the Aida on the Hoop

Check out my "4 Square Patchwork-Button Holes Bag " on my Homemade Fabric Gift Bags page to find the cute bag that I made to go with the cross stitch.

Happy Cross Stitching!

Laetitia