Simple delights

 Lace edges for cross stitch 

Is it too early to be thinking of Christmas gifts? At any rate, this simple tutorial shows how I add lace to a piece of cross stitch to be added to a face washer towel.

To begin, I stitched my piece of cross stitch and then iron it. I made sure the length of Aida fabric is the same width of the towel, with a little extra for turning under at the edges.

Once stitched and ironed, I choose a piece of lace I think suits both the design of the cross stitch and the color of the towel.  I then pin the lace to the Aida fabric and sew along the lace edge.

When I finished sewing the lace, I then pinned the entire piece to the towel. You can sew the entire piece to the hand towel with a sewing machine using matching thread and a top stitch.

I didn't have matching thread so I hand sewed using back stitch and using the embroidery thread I used in the cross stitch piece which also matched the hand towel.

The edges of the piece are folded in at the end and then slip stitched close using small invisible hand stitching to match the Aida fabric. I then ironed the piece again. To finish, I added final touches of thin satin ribbon and some french knots in the middle of the lace flowers, I used the mint green thread in the design to match.  

The card, I finished up with an embroidery piece previously mentioned. I used what I had in my stash and the most expensive item would have to be the Aida fabric which comes in a packet for about $10, but I can get about half a dozen designs from the packet of fabric. The ribbon came from some tags that was on clothing my Aunt or sister gave me. The lace was from ebay which had a huge amount for about $5 and free postage I used the same lace on the card. The flat back pearls on the card came from the dollar store for about $2.  The face washer was about $2 from the cheap stores but had a nice feel to them and didn't feel or look cheap. Overall, a really cheap gift to give or keep.

There's a few mistakes in counting with the cross stitch but it is all done with love, no one will really notice. 

I hope everyone is having a good day or evening where ever you are.