Crafting Corner: Cross Stitch Kit - Frederick the Literate

Crafting Corner is a new feature that I'm hosting that will appear on the blog on the first Saturday of the month and I hope that some of you will join in with me. I love letting my artistic side out - more often than not in the form of cross stitching but I have dabbled in all kinds of crafty activities over the years and I'm hoping that talking about them on the blog will encourage me to dig out some of my old materials and give them another try. I have to say a huge thanks to Sammee from I Want To Read That for designing the button, I'm excited that she's going to join me posting about the things she's been making - if you follow her on Instagram you'll already know she is incredibly skilled at crocheting and she's also recently discovered needle felting so I can't wait to see her updates!

Crafting Corner is somewhere for us to chat about anything craft related - it can be sewing, painting, drawing, model making, in fact pretty much anything goes. You may want to review crafting books or just talk about any current projects you're working on or things that you'd like to start. I don't really have a set format for these posts so I'm just going to roll with it and see what happens but hopefully some of you will find it interesting and be willing to share what you're working on too. It doesn't matter what day of the month you join in but if you do take part please come leave a link to your post in the comments so that I can check out what you've been creating!

My little sewing helper!

Anyway, for this first month I wanted to focus on the cross stitch project that I've just finished. I started it in July last year but I really didn't know quite what I'd let myself in for and it took a lot of hard work to finish. The kit is called Frederick the Literate, it was designed by Charles Wysocki and is made my a company called Dimensions (their website is www.dimensions-crafts.com). The finished picture is 12 x 11 inches and it's by far the largest project I've ever worked on but I'm so pleased with the result and it was worth every second it took to complete. The picture combines two of my favourite things - books and a cat so I couldn't resist it and I think it's a particularly appropriate design to showcase on my blog!

As you can see from the picture above I usually have a helper when I'm working on my cross stitch. Cassie is a very cuddly cat and you can't sit down for more than five minutes without her coming for a fuss! I like to combine sewing with my other favourite hobby - reading of course - so you'll often find I'm listening to an audiobook (or using the text to speech function on my Kindle) while I'm sewing. It really is the perfect way to spend a relaxing afternoon!

One of the things I love about this particular design is the names of the books on the shelves - they're all things like "Puss in Boots", "The Three Mouseketeers" and "Three Wined Mice". I actually wanted to personalise the picture a little though so I added my cat's names to one of the books (one that was appropriately called "Tale of Two Kitties") and even included my name and blog on there too. Most people won't even notice those changes when they look at the picture but I'll always know they're there & it makes me smile looking at that particular book!

Personalising the picture

I want to frame the finished design but because it's an awkward size I've not been able to find a ready made frame that fits it properly so I'm going to have to pay to have a custom made one. I have no idea how expensive that will be so I might have to save up for a while before I get it done but in the meantime I can show you what the finished picture looks like.

Frederick the Literate - the finished picture

What do you think? It has taken a lot of effort but I'm so proud of the end results and I can't wait to get it framed and hanging on the wall. This is a stunning kit and one I'd definitely recommend but I have to say it isn't one I'd attempt if you're new to cross stitch. It's fairly easy to do but tackling such a huge project can be quite daunting when you don't know what you're doing (there were times I thought I'd never finish it and I've been doing cross stitch for years!).

Have you ever tried cross stitch? If you have I'd love to know what kind of designs you've made and if you have any recommendations for kits to buy. I already know which kit I'm starting next but I think I'll save posting about that one until next month's Crafting Corner! I hope you've enjoyed seeing something different on the blog, I don't tend to do many personal posts but I think this will be fun and I really hope that some other people will decide to join Sammee and myself :o)