One slightly more complex cross stitch pattern for children to make.  On 6 count, this would make a nice little pillow front (check out the "How to Cross Stitch" directions for ideas on how to make a pillow from a pattern)

To learn more about cross stitching, check out our "How to Cross Stitch" directions.

When I do these projects with the girls, I encourage them fill in the white backgrounds with white cross stitch instead of leaving it unstitched.  The long rows of single colored stitches are terrific practice.  But it's completely up to you!  It does make the project take a lot longer.

You can cut the words off the bottom if you don't want to tackle backstitching letters.

Materials:

• printer,
• paper,
• Embroidery Floss Used:
  • normally I encourage you to substitute colors to use up whatever floss you have on hand...  In this case, though -- green, gold and purple are the mardi gras colors, so you might want to stick with them.
• Aida cloth with a low number (6 count Aida is 6 stitches per inch while 10 count is 10 stitches per inch...  The lower the number, the bigger the project ends up being and the easier it is for a beginner to complete)
  • 6 count would give you a 6.5 x 6.3 inch finished project
  • 8 count would give you a 4.9 x 4.8 inch finished project
  • 10 count would give you a 3.9 x 3.8 inch finished project

  OR

• plastic canvas,
• embroidery hoop (a must! unless you're using plastic canvas),
• needle (20 or 22 work well, but any that fit 3 strands of floss will do)

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.
• Fold cloth in half and then in half again to find the center.
• Place hoop around cloth.  Start as close to center as you can.
• Cut about 18 inch pieces of floss and divide in half (so you have 3 strands of floss to work with).
• Start cross stitching!  To learn more about cross stitching, check out our "How to Cross Stitch" directions.

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Mardi Gras Cross Stitch Template   (color)   or   (B&W)

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