Summoning Spring with a Cross-Stitched Sundress

[@elisabethmontegna5412]

This dress is so freaking cute, I love it! I salute you for sticking with it because I probably would’ve thrown it in a corner and tried to forget it existed. Given how the fabric looked and behaved, I think it was actually Aida cloth (I always say “ay-duh”-is that right, who knows?). Cross stitch stores carry it on bolts, so I’m guessing it ended up at the thrift store as dead stock or a mill end or something. If you want to try large scale cross-stitch on a dress again, 1) gingham could work as the fabric and 2) look up “perler bead designs”. They’re a craft thing for kids designed on grid patterns that I think would work well for large scale cross stitch.

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Oh my goodness, we loved perler beads as kids! That's such a great idea for cross stitch patterns - I'll definitely be keeping that in mind! (Also yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right about the pronunciation... my theatrical past is coming back to bite me! XD)

[@jessicahill1357]

Laughed loudly and heartily at "Straight up hakkuna mattata'd this crap" great video.

[@suzisaintjames]

0:33 I used a very similar fabric for a flower sashiko piece. (The pattern looks like roses.) It was great! No marking the grid. The fabric was the grid. Think counted cross stitch meets sashiko. (I used every two holes was a grid, because every hole was just too tight and it worked out fine. 💖🌞🌵😷

[@jessicaraine8403]

I learned recently, for fabrics like this, as soon as the pieces are cut to go ahead and overlock or zigzag stitch the edges to prevent all the fraying while you work

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Yeah, that would definitely make the process less stressful for me... gotta get a serger asap!

[@serenaleone722]

​@@gettheetothestitcheryYou can actually buy an overlock foot much cheaper than a serger. Your machine specifically has some great overlock stitches. Source? I have that same machine! It's saved my Entire Booty with aida cloth before.

[@kathy2466]

If you have disintegrating fabric, you can use extra large double fold bias tape (bought or make it yourself) out of leftover non shredding fabric. Use your sewing machine's long stitch and wrap & sew bias tape around all edges until they are ready to be sewn in. Remove bias as you sew the fabric together. You can also use bias tape to finish seams instead of making French seams. I love watching you learn more about constructing swishy items.😊 I just wish we had a fabric thrift store near us.😢

[@KatNoggin]

Winging it… more like WINNING IT ❤

[@Kera.S.]

This is the cutest! 💙 Don't be so hard on yourself. I remember when you wouldn't even show your face on this channel. Look how far you've come and honestly, all of your makes come out so fantastic I would love to be able to have the courage to sew things, and no one will even see mine. I'm so VERY PROUD OF YOU ❣️ 🤗

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Aw thank you Kera!! I so appreciate you sticking with me from the start!

[@suzisaintjames]

Consider mixing embroidery stitches on your next embellished garment. Most cross stitch designs include the outline stitch and the stem stitch. I love the bee's flight path. 💖🌞🌵😷

[@Benouille1988]

This dress is so cuuuute ! Also love the casual real talk about having a hard time and needing a break even just to color for a bit... Glad you found a hobby ! ❤

[@suzisaintjames]

6:42 you are signaling to your puppy through body language that you want to play! Especially, with your head below your hips. That's definitely the "I want to play "posture". So you can expect him to come over when ever you get down on the floor like that! 💖🌞🌵😷

[@kayta84]

Lovely dress! Love the bee😊 as a person from a family of cross stichers, I think this fabric is cross stitching aida, a soft and coloured one. It behaves, and frayes, like it. Hand felling or machine zigzagging is a must for all edges!

[@brontaedubois2925]

I found you a little while back. I am slowly working through your back log and keeping up with weekly videos. I love your voice and your have rekindled my love for fashion and sewing. I am about to make an Edwardian walking skirt and I cant wait to put the size able waist in it. Thank you for your channel it really is my body doubling savior for hours at the machine or hand sewing.

[@AlabasterClay]

So stinking cute! My goodness, you really wing it well. LOL.

[@lindagoesel3815]

I have been adding tops of all kinds to my skirts and they turn out great. I went crazy with skirts too, and I love dresses for ease too. One and done.😊

[@lindagoesel3815]

Very cute, forgot to add. Love your puppy too.❤

[@sarahjones3389]

Charlie, you saying 'it's OK, its just a fun skirt' has gotten me through. You've inspired me to make my first split side skirt! I just don't quite have a sewing machine yet 😅 so hand sewing and binging your videos it is ❤

[@CootiePootieTootie]

Have you seen the Kai fabric scissors? They cut EVERYTHING like BUTTER!

[@lefaymorgayne3320]

Can I Just say... You DO have a "Normal" Job, you are doing the Job of what a lot of sewing/ stitching teacher would , You are giving us presence, motivation, Faith that this can be done, courage that it's okay to wing it, and that mistakes can be done, and arranged, and that the most important part is to Try and do things, put the brush on the canvas and start painting, if you will ~ This is a Job. As to know if this fits a definition of "Normal" ( btw, Who' definition of normal are we trying to fit into today ? I'm not quite sure...) Well, to My standards , Yes, it does .. BUt it always depends on what You are Willing YOUR "Normal "( at this point in time obviously this evolves~ ^^) to be ! Thank You, as always, For what you do, You Have No Idea what your spark on the Other Side of the planet ~ But telling you : It's Joy, excitement, and Beauty, and dreams coming slowly true, one Try at a Time ~

[@debbiesnyder4778]

Your dress is adorable. I love the cross stitching. All I can say is you have more patience than I do!!!

[@suzisaintjames]

When planning a color palette, do you use a color wheel and a pack of color chips? Or are they some where in your stash. P.s. working from digital color wheels and chips ... Just isn't the same. (Sometimes you can get that pack of color chips when paint stores change the colors for the season, but I've seen them on sale online as well.) 💖🌞🌵😷

[@csifan52]

Oh my gosh the dress AND ESPECIALLY THE ADORABLE BEES!! 🩷🩷🩷🩷 so cute all around! Fantastic work!

[@daxxydog5777]

I know I’m late to the party, but if I think a fabric will fray really badly, I starch the crap out of it before I cut it to keep it more stable, and run to the machine to stay stitch or serge. No serger? Check your machine for an overlock stitch. Most modern machines have one, or zig zag, at the least. This also helps with roll-ey knits! That material looked like a nightmare. Oh, one more thing - you can stay stitch a strip of tulle as a stabilizer. Learned this with a stretch lace dress I altered for my daughter. For her wedding. I about died! Thought I had ruined it.

[@ColorJoyLynnH]

Sounds like the tulle stabilizer gave you a win. Those projects are only worth it when you can tell the story, much later.

[@anafbraz]

Watching your videos makes me want to go back stitching and sewing 😊.

[@mikaelaraine3781]

Very, very creative! Super cute! ❤

[@annamaxflair]

sweet project

[@23sanguinity]

Just found a crafting thrift store near me! It was great

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!

[@dawnish7559]

i find turning straps right way out to use a plastic tube and a knitting needle that is if they are half inch wide 😀much easier than toes method

[@arrowwishes8766]

Me and one of my kids are always coloring...so fun and relaxing.

[@mollywilcox5991]

Super cute. The best thing I've found for super shreddy fabric has been a combination of lightweight iron-on interfacing, and then overlocking with a serger. I highly recommend a serger for future. Also, the coloring book you chose is amazing. I love that author.

[@redan030303]

you are so talented..... I like so much all you do and I enjoy the time spending watching all you great work.... wow....all is so amazing and without patterns....that is so good.

[@melissanightingale1692]

It's so cute!!! I love it and you look beautiful ❤❤❤

[@julianneanderson6239]

As a cross-stitcher, i want that aida fabric to make myself a dress from it!!!

[@sandrabattye8689]

For heavily unraveling fabric - baste the edge (straight or zigzag stitch) even better look at the 'funny stitches on your sewing machine. Your machine looks new enough that it should have the faux-overlock (faux-serger) stitches, the one that looks like a zigzag and straight stich sewn simultaneously would have saved you so much pain in this project. But honestly - you look fantastic in that dress!

[@stephaniecameron2594]

The dress came out so cute. Found your channel about a month ago, and am loving it. Having a really hard day mentally, got so many projects I wanna start/work on, but sitting down to work on any just makes me suddenly be at the point of tears and wanting to throw/break things. Thank you for keeping the bit about the coloring book in, it helped me feel a little tiny bit better about my own mental state

[@robintheparttimesewer6798]

The dress is lovely. My fix for colour theory is to make a kid do it. This works really well until they grow up and move away. Now it’s back to me and my inability to do it well

[@lovelasnow]

The little finished product screen reminds me, there was once a time when I wanted to make things to sell, immediately decided that was a bad idea since I don’t like making the same thing twice

[@CootiePootieTootie]

Oh my gosh, that's so cute!

[@julianrobertson3303]

Absolutely excellent .

[@beeb6730]

This is so fun. If you ever do cross stitch again and want an easy / freehand way to do the neatness trick of all the top stitches in a row I just go whichever direction and then making the X of it wither over or under the first stitch so they're all running in the same direction, not actually harder than to do the second stitch on the bottom than the top and lets it be neat when needed. Personally for this design I like the random directions in the flowers but in case its helpful thought I’d mention it as you said you didn't normally do cross-stitch.

[@frannygrace2191]

You combined two of my favorite crafts. Now for the cute barrette!

[@rlgillette]

loved it.

[@dianegraydon1143]

Hi there from Ontario Canada.. I found your channel a few weeks ago and I have been watching through your older posts...your creativity is wonderful..so of course I have subscribed.I am looking forward to watching what you do next.

[@julieratter4942]

Aw this is so darn cute!

[@janetpaden8878]

I love the dress! I have been dying to make a skirt in the same shade of blue. Just a suggestion, if you should ever wish to stitch on a future project. Try graph paper. Some people prefer the dotted, but I prefer the gridded. Good luck in all your future projects!

[@carmens1108]

Winging it is absolutely okay. As a suggestion for next time, if there is a next time 😂, maybe draw or sketch your harder objects on with some washable ink to help you visualize it a little easier while you're stitching it up. This is a way better option than using pins. Also, when you cross stitch, your stitches or X's should always face the same direction. When you mentioned it in the video I was like yes girl that's the right way, but I understand a first timer. 😂 I do love how it turned out! It's super cute. ❤😊

[@kayn70]

That turned out so stinking adorable!!! Love the dress!

[@melissashiels7838]

I've heard you mention colouring before, but tonight I thought "I could colour!". I like to do something with my hands while I listen/watch videos. I often play spider soliraire or mah Jong on the computer, but I think colouring will be more tactile, which is what I crave (when I'm not sewing).

[@kschickle916]

Soooo cute.

[@BethAge95]

This dress is super cute! What a lovely idea!

[@The3GMom]

Very cute!

[@dawnmoriarty9347]

I love learning by watching you.

[@charlarp]

This turned out so cute! I would love to try this!

[@Thecrazyisstrong]

It is a very cute dress!

[@joanhelenak]

So cute!!

[@overthoughtseams]

Cute dress!! Love the BIG cross stitches, that’s such a fun spring dress! 🐝 I, too, have the rib boobs; got the protruding ribs from my mom’s side as well lol

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Psh, moms... always passing on their rib boobs XD

[@lizz7162]

Iv also got big ribs... i thought it was from doing so much gymnastics in my youth 😮

[@avisnocturna1595]

I'm pretty sure that this fabric is evenweave, not aida. With aida each 'woven strand' (I don't know the terminology, so bear with me) is made up of several threads, like you can also see in this fabric. However, the outer threads of each strand are woven in the opposite direction, which makes the fabric less likely to shift and thus easier to cross-stitch on (this is why aida is often recommended to beginners).

[@Debra-z7d]

Beefuitful! 🐝 love it , you look so cute in that!

[@Debra-z7d]

*beeautiful

[@Holly_hamigakiko]

I use colouring books to keep me sane too. I am also looking at a tracing book by the same people as yours. I also struggle with colour application. There is a lovely colouring KZbinr and she has a case of colour schemes that pre match. I think it might be Sarah Rae?? I recognise the face so vaguely trying to recall her name (I’ve always been awful with names). I think you can then just look through the cards until you find one you like and it has every colour that will go together pre thought out for you. I was thinking of getting them for embroidery or even getting dressed in the morning as I am clueless. Usually I just use my wonderfully blunt hubby to tell me what works and doesn’t!

[@gettheetothestitchery]

I'll have to look her up, thanks for the suggestion!

[@MsHedgehog]

Very cute! But how did the dress stand up to washing? I have had mixed results with that kind of yarn.

[@sallythekolcat]

I wonder, did you stumble upon monk's cloth? There's a whole set of designs for embroidery on it called Swedish weaving.

[@ColorJoyLynnH]

Having worked 4+ years at a fabric store, it absolutely looks like monks cloth. Love the stuff… drapes great. I want a big swoopy cape from it, a la Narnia adventures.

[@Silrielmavi]

I'd love to see the list of stores you found!

[@gettheetothestitchery]

So apparently, I lost my list! Ugh... But I'm gonna remake it and share soon!

[@ChibiChula]

The dress turned out really cute. 😁👍 Hmm... I'm impressed you managed to deal with that fabric without fray check. It would have driven me insane, lol. 😅 You got a new sub!

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Oh it fully drove me insane! I feel like I'm still recovering... all my latest projects have been knit. XD

[@ChibiChula]

@@gettheetothestitchery Understandable. 😅

[@KekoLynn]

That guilty feeling of not having a “normal” job is something I’ve struggled with, myself. It really sucks.

[@MissyHanks]

By any chance can you share your list of craft thrift stores? I couldn't seem to find any near me and was hoping maybe you did lol Thank you so much and I absolutely love your content and your personality ❤️

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Sooooo.... I kinda lost it. Whoops! Seriously, someone asked for it a bit ago, so I started digging through all my documents to find it, and nope - nowhere to be found! I'm currently working on a new one though, and maybe a video to go with it eventually!

[@MissyHanks]

@@gettheetothestitchery oh no! No worries!!! I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Thank you soooooo much ❤️

[@kathleenwoods8416]

I know that every woman on earth has weird things they say about their bodies, but I always think of prominent ribs as 'Barbie ribs' cause old Barbie dolls always have them.

[@kaytemnorwood]

Does your list of crafting thrift stores have any locations in New Mexico?

[@gettheetothestitchery]

Oh my god I went to look and I can't find my list! Noooooooo... it got sucked into the vortex of Google docs. Sigh. I'll do my research again and make a new one soon though!

[@kaytemnorwood]

@@gettheetothestitchery it's okay. I'm moving to an area of town that is basically a desert of all craft places. Thank you for responding to my comment though!

[@beverleybee1309]

That looks like monk's cloth. It shreds like monk's cloth. I tried to make a checker board out of monk's cloth back in the 80's😵

[@nixhixx]

From my time working at fabric stores, it's pronounced Ay-Da. (NOT like the opera)

[@RioTorxx]

Try Stardew Valley!

[@edieboudreau9637]

I never liked sewing burlap. Ugh