I have a couple of cross stitch patterns/charts that I bought from a thrift shop last year and was thinking I finally stitch them and put this with some finished works that I designed myself so that I could sell them at a craft fair but I wasn’t sure if Dimensions has a rule against selling finished hand-stitched works. Does anyone happen to know if this is allowed or not allowed? I sent an email contact to them about 3 days ago with no response at all yet so I figured I would try here for now.
Thanks for your time and help.

I don’t believe it will be a problem to sell the finished work. Most cross stitch designers don’t have a problem with selling single, finished works. A problem could arise if you were to mass-produce the work or copy and sell the pattern (copyright violation – big no-no). The other poster’s answer about making slight changes to a pattern and selling it as your own is also copyright violation and you can most definitely get hauled into court for that.

she is eleven years old, and wants to start doing crafts (cross stitching, embroidery….)
what should I teach her first?

Cross stitching is a great hobby, and very relaxing! Any craft you get her into needs to start with something simple, so she doesn’t loose interest. Cross stitch can be very simple, so probably best to start with. Embroidery uses a lot of different stiches, so can be confusing. Jewellery making is also another hobby she may be interested in; you can start with easy stuff, then progress to more complicated stuff!

So glad she is interested in crafts; these days kids are only into computers!!!

I have never done either but I am pregnant and nervous and looking for a craft to keep me busy, plus I really want to be able to make cute stuff for the baby. How would I go about learning and which is better to try? How long would it take to learn?

The secret to successful cross stitch is counting accurately.
The best way to learn, is with a small kit.
The patterns in the kits will be printed on a grid, with a different symbol for each color. The thread colors are numbered.
Start with something simple. You would not want to attempt a rose that has 20 different shades of pink for your first project. Take your time in setting up, so that even if you only have three shades of pink, you won’t get the light pink confused with the medium pink.

How long would it take to learn? Can I learn from a book or the internet? Is it difficult to learn? where is the best place to find patterns?

I learned cross-stitch in under 1 hour, you can find patterns for this for free on the internet or you can buy books.

You can buy single-pattern sets which contain the needles, the embroidery thread, the pattern, the fabric and often also have a tutorial leaflet included. This is a great way to start.

Tutorials are available on Youtube.

I also recently taught myself crochet through a free pattern on the internet.

So, I’m a guy and I LOVE to do crafts. A long time ago, I had a needlepoint kit. It was SUPER fun! And now, I really want to start up again. But I also learned there is something called Cross stitch which is similar. I just don’t know which one to chose! Can someone help me, listing the pros and cons of each? Thank You!

Actually, you’ve got three different choices:

Counted cross stitch (XS) – which starts with the basic ‘X’ stitch, but also includes what are called ’specialty stitches’ (of which there are hundreds), uses all sorts of different colors and types of fabrics and uses everything from basic embroidery floss to silks to metallics, with occasional ’specialty fibers’ like fuzzy stuff and chenille, and plenty of beads, buttons & charms, depending on the design. In XS you start with the chart of a design you’d like to do, then either follow all the choices set out in the chart (fabric, threads, etc.), or change it to suit your preferences and start stitching. You follow the chart very closely as you go, that is where the ‘counted’ part of the stitching comes in. You can stitch with your fabric in a hoop, a frame, a q-snap, stretcher bars, or even just ‘in hand’. Something wonderful about XS is that there is no one ‘right’ way to do any of it, so there is a lot of flexibility in it, and opportunities to create truly unique works of needleart. Stitching can be done on pre-made items (like hand towels and bibs), or on fabric and then finished into everything from framed pieces to pillows to bellpulls to needlework accessories, to work to be fitted into boxtops, coasters, trivets, and mugs, to aprons, napkins, placemats, tablecloths, and breadcovers, to holiday ornaments, holiday stockings, afghans and quilts. You can also use a special fabric called ‘waste canvas’ that gives you a removable grid to work on pretty much any fabric surface – denim jacket, jeans, oxford shirts, t-shirts, etc. So, you have a lot of flexibility in what design you stitch (there are hundreds of thousands of patterns out there, many for free), what you stitch it on, what your end product is going to look like and what you’re going to finish it up into. The cost can range as little as under $10 for everything needed to complete a design (needles, hoop, threads, fabric, design) to $300 – depending mainly on the cost of the pattern, fabric, and threads/beads.

Needlepoint (NP) – which starts with a painted design on a canvas, uses everything from a basic tent stitch (‘/") to hundreds of different types of stitches, using all sorts of specialty threads (floss, perle, satin, ribbon, rayon, suede, metallics, fuzzy stuff, etc.) and occasional beads. This can result in a truly spectacular piece of needleart, but can be extremely expensive. Because you are starting with a canvas that has been painted with a design, the canvas can range in price from $5 to $600, and then the specialty threads can also be expensive. Depending on how picky you are, it may be difficult to find projects you want to stitch that are in your price range (or not. = ) Since the ground material is quite stiff, it is best to finish into items that don’t need much flexibility (ornaments, stockings, pillows, boxtops, framed pieces.) However, because the design is already painted on the canvas, there is no chart to follow, you’re filling in the segments of color on the canvas with whatever stitches you’ve chosen for that section. Some more complex designs have a ’stitch guide’ available to purchase, with what stitches & threads to use in different sections. These you do follow along with, just not as closely as in XS. Most NP needs to be worked on some sort of frame or stretcher bars, to keep the canvas from being pulled out of true while being worked on. (My first piece of NP I ever did ended up looking like a parallelogram because I didn’t know this. = )

Canvaswork (CW) – is a combination of the freedom of the former with the stitchwork of the latter. That is, you start with an unpainted piece of canvas, but use a pattern to count where to place the design on the canvas. The design is often a combination of all those special stitches to create a (usually) geometric work of art. A design may use and of the previously listed threads – basic floss, silks, perle, and plenty of those cool specialty fibers – as well as beads, to complete the design. You can change anything about the design – adding something or taking something away, the colors, the fibers, etc. to create your unique piece of needleart. Since the ground fabric is on a stiff canvas, like NP, it needs to be worked on some kind of stretcher bars and then finished into something that doesn’t need a lof of flexibility.

Whatever you choose – have fun with it!

I have gone to every craft store in my city and not one of them have blank ornaments, am I looking for the wrong type? Can someone please tell me what kind to buy? Could I use photo ornaments? I already have the patterns. And I want to use some of my x-stitch to make magnets too. Do I use craft magnets with the adhedsive on them? Or do I use photo magnets? Please help me!!

Here’s some frames for ornaments.

http://www.123stitch.com/Frames.html

Here’s directions on how to make refrigerator magnets. You could also do one of the ornaments and glue a piece of magnet on the back.

http://www.cyberstitchers.com/Resources/FinishingTechniques/FabricMagnet.asp

I need to pick up some new DMC thread. I have done some searches but the stores like Millers and Artstore seem to be more arts related. I have also found some knitting and yarn shops. So what about needlepoint, cross-stitch and the like?

http://www.bing.com/search?q=needlecrafts++glasgow+uk&go=&form=QBRE&qs=n&sk=

people who are against it tell me, "you cannot earn a living selling bracelets"?

you would be right if i were selling just bracelets…but i sell a whole range of almost 50 items, in jewelry, friendship bracelets, knitted items (scarves, hats, headbands, rugs, ect) crocheted items (scarves, rugs, hats, ect), kandi bracelets, woven squares, sewn dolls, upcycled and downcycled crafts, and i will also be selling mosaics, pottery, photography, cross stitch, and crafting supplies not sold at craft supply stores such as plastic bottle tops.

so why do people make it seem like it is impossible to make a living crafting? also, i will NOT be just crafting. i will have a job at a craft supply store, and also be donating clothing and appliances to charity to get tax deductions and i plan on having a few instructional and story books done in my free time.

so, i am confused, why do people talk to me like i am just going to sell one item?

it’s probably just people that are concerned for your ability to make it and prosper. As a mother of a young adult daughter I understand the concern. As a fellow craft-er struggling to make a living I say go for your dream! If it doesn’t work out at least you tried! What’s that saying about if you never try anything- you’ll never know what it’s like to succeed? Just remember that in crafting- you can get sucked in to the "gotta make a bunch of stuff to sell this weekend", and get away from your love of crafting. When the love of it goes away- usually so does the beauty of your talent.

…on one piece of fabric.
The Tea Party was in the Cross Stitch and Country Crafts Magazine January/February 1986 issue and The Little Aviator was in the same magazine January/February 1988 issue. A semifinalist by the name of Amy Sobczak combined the two pictures together in one cross stitch piece and I would like to find this pattern. Any clues where I could find it?

A web search found a listing for a teacher by that name at Hickory Center Elementary School

http://www.nacs.k12.in.us/ClassInfo/School/6/Hickory+Center+Elementary.html

Hickory Center Elementary
3606 Baird Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46818

Phone: 260-637-3758
Fax: 637-2081

Her email is below-

Amy Sobczak
Amy.Sobczak@nacs.k12.in.us

She may have created the pattern herself and could likely help.

i love yarn and thread crafts including crochet, cross stitch, latch hook, sewing, punch needle, and quilting. but i don’t know how to knit. could you list a good detailed video or website that will show me how to knit? (video would be better) (optional) : list more thread or yarn crafts. (if you list one that’s not above i will give u one thumbs up! or i will try to at least. if i didn’t let me know and i will )

Knitting Help is the absolute best tutorial site for knitting. They have the best in depth video library illustrating different stitches and techniques. Ravelry is not a tutorial site, but they are the best social networking site for fiber arts and they do have an extensive search ability that includes tutorials. Also…weaving, rug hooking, felting, and embroidery.