Cross Stitch gone wild

At last. I have been on my final hen do of the year. Some people have asked me why I haven’t been on a nice summer holiday this year. I wonder why and then start to add up all the money I’ve spent on hen dos and weddings this year and stop when my eyes start to water.


This hen do also involved fancy dress which whilst it initially made my blood run cold actually turned out ok. They chose a good theme, sailor girls, meaning your possibilities could be endless. For those who want to go kinky and go the SFD route there are plenty of options open to you. For those who are terrified of fancy dress, all you need is a stripy top and away you go.

I did some superb bargain shopping and managed to pick up a red and white stripy vest top for £3 in the Next sale and a navy blue pencil skirt for £7 from Primark. Both good because not only were they cheap, they were wearable again for work (although probably not together, unless we happen to have a sailor girl day at work, in which case...I’m set!).

But it didn’t feel like a special enough outfit.

Then, flicking through CrossStitcher magazine what should jump out at me but a pattern for an anchor. Perfect. Plus it would be doubly perfect to cross stitch this anchor seeing as it was a Stitchette's hen do. But how to get the anchor on to my skirt?

Soluble canvas.


Oh the wonders of modern technology.

I had heard talk of this magical stuff but had yet to experience it. A quick search online and I had some in my grubby little mitts.

Things to note about soluble canvas;

a) It is not cheap

b) You don’t get a lot of it

I worked out where I wanted my anchor to go, attached the canvas to the skirt with an embroidery hoop and just began stitching like it was normal aida. It is seriously that simple.

A word of advice though, don’t decide you’re going to stitch your design with a seam running through it because you’ll go through a phase of really hating your stitching because it’s hard to get the needle through the fabric. And it’s not really the piece of work’s fault that you’re a moron.

But all was well that ended well and I had a fancy little skirt that worked well with the hen do but I reckon I can also get away with wearing at work (as long as I lose a couple of ribs because that skirt was tight, meaning it was standing room only, sitting was an issue!).

Once you’re done stitching you just need to soak the fabric in a bowl of water for about 10 minutes or so, give it a little rub and voila you have officially cross stitched onto fabric. Boom.

I am now feeling an urge to cross stitch on to fabric so you might want to stay out of my way for a little while.

Please note that although it does look a little weird with the seam running through it, I promise that when it's on it doesn't look odd.

If you're interested, I used two different coloured reds, one for the outside and one for the inside and I did the rope using one strand each of two different tan/yellow colours, used together. I should really take note of what actual colours I used. Sorry.