Meerkats Cross Stitch Kits
What better way to get kids into sewing and crafts than with a meerkat cross stitch kit. Our selection of cross stitch kits include everything you need, including threads, a needle and full instructions. There's a range of charming cartoon style designs by by Peter Underhill, painting style designs by John Clayton, and photo-realistic designs for the really confident cross stitcher.
What's best about cross stitch is that at the end you have a beautiful decoration for your kid's bedroom or your kitchen that has been handmade with love and care - irreplaceable! (If cross stitch is new to you, read our short guide below.)
What's best about cross stitch is that at the end you have a beautiful decoration for your kid's bedroom or your kitchen that has been handmade with love and care - irreplaceable! (If cross stitch is new to you, read our short guide below.)
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What is Cross Stitch?
Cross stitch is a kind of embroidery, where you use threads to create a pattern in your fabric, either from your own design, or over a pre-printed design. If you are of a certain age, as the team here at Meekats Gifts are, you will have probably learnt cross stitch in school, using an open weave fabric and bits of old wool from home! Our cross stitch patterns all feature pre-printed designs and are perfect for beginners and experienced cross stitch fans alike.
The art of cross stitch dates back many centuries, but we are probably most familiar with cross stitch samplers from the 18th and 19th century, which turn up on the Antiques Roadshow and similar programs, and cost a fortune! Indeed, right up until the 1950s, cross stitch was a popular pastime, and is now being revived as parents and grandparents want to encourage their children to sew.
Cross Stitch Fabrics: Blockweaves and Evenweaves
Cross stitch is created using a variety of materials and techniques on fabrics that have very clear vertical and horizontal threads. These fabrics come in two main types, blockweaves or evenweaves.
Blockweave looks as if it's been made from thin strips of material laid one across the other at right angles. Where the strips meet, they form a square with a hole at each corner. You create your cross stitch by sewing through the holes to create a block of thread.
Blockweave fabrics are available with different numbers of holes per inch, usually written as 'hpi'. The number of holes per inch defines the size of your stitching, so the more delicate piece you want to do, the higher the hpi should be. Blockweaves fabrics range from 6 holes per inch to 22 holes per inch, and most cross stitch enthusiasts choose a 14 hpi fabric.
There are two types of blockweave material, known as aida and binca. 14 hpi aida is a good size for a cross stitch pattern, as the squares are large enough to work easily with, and yet small enough to give your design a good level of detail. Binca is a good fabric for children to use.
Just to confuse you, the size of blockweaves can also be expressed by the number of squares per inch, known as the 'count'. In practice, there is no difference between measuring them by squares per inch or holes per inch, so 14 count aida is exactly the same as 14 hpi aida.
Evenweave fabric has identical number of threads running both horizontally and vertically, but since they are not created in blocks, they are not so easy to work.
Other Cross Stitch Fabrics
Once you get the hang of cross stitch, it's possible to create a design on almost any sort of fabric, although linen in is a particular favourite with experience cross stitchers. You can also work on canvas, including single canvas, which is woven from a single threads, interlocked canvas, and double (Penelope) canvas which is created using pairs of threads.
Cross Stitch Threads and Embroidery Silks
Of course, the fabric is only the basis of your cross stitch project; to bring it to life, you need a selection of threads to create the colours and textures. There are a variety of threads available for your cross stitch project, including stranded cotton, stranded silk, flower thread, perle cotton, soft embroidery cotton, metallic thread, and wool.
Cross Stitch Types
When you are creating your cross stitch, you will use a variety of stitches to create your pattern, including a half cross stitch, the quarter stitch, French knot, and various other types.
The one piece of kit you will always need to create a cross stitch is… a needle! A size 24 needle with a blunt end is best for general projects, although if you are giving a child a cross stitch project, you should always use a big, blunt ended needle which is safe for them to handle.
Cross Stitch Frames
You might also prefer to stretch your fabric over a hoop or frame, which makes the fabric and design it easier to see, although some cross stitchers much prefer to hold the fabric loose in their hands.
Cross stitch is a kind of embroidery, where you use threads to create a pattern in your fabric, either from your own design, or over a pre-printed design. If you are of a certain age, as the team here at Meekats Gifts are, you will have probably learnt cross stitch in school, using an open weave fabric and bits of old wool from home! Our cross stitch patterns all feature pre-printed designs and are perfect for beginners and experienced cross stitch fans alike.
The art of cross stitch dates back many centuries, but we are probably most familiar with cross stitch samplers from the 18th and 19th century, which turn up on the Antiques Roadshow and similar programs, and cost a fortune! Indeed, right up until the 1950s, cross stitch was a popular pastime, and is now being revived as parents and grandparents want to encourage their children to sew.
Cross Stitch Fabrics: Blockweaves and Evenweaves
Cross stitch is created using a variety of materials and techniques on fabrics that have very clear vertical and horizontal threads. These fabrics come in two main types, blockweaves or evenweaves.
Blockweave looks as if it's been made from thin strips of material laid one across the other at right angles. Where the strips meet, they form a square with a hole at each corner. You create your cross stitch by sewing through the holes to create a block of thread.
Blockweave fabrics are available with different numbers of holes per inch, usually written as 'hpi'. The number of holes per inch defines the size of your stitching, so the more delicate piece you want to do, the higher the hpi should be. Blockweaves fabrics range from 6 holes per inch to 22 holes per inch, and most cross stitch enthusiasts choose a 14 hpi fabric.
There are two types of blockweave material, known as aida and binca. 14 hpi aida is a good size for a cross stitch pattern, as the squares are large enough to work easily with, and yet small enough to give your design a good level of detail. Binca is a good fabric for children to use.
Just to confuse you, the size of blockweaves can also be expressed by the number of squares per inch, known as the 'count'. In practice, there is no difference between measuring them by squares per inch or holes per inch, so 14 count aida is exactly the same as 14 hpi aida.
Evenweave fabric has identical number of threads running both horizontally and vertically, but since they are not created in blocks, they are not so easy to work.
Other Cross Stitch Fabrics
Once you get the hang of cross stitch, it's possible to create a design on almost any sort of fabric, although linen in is a particular favourite with experience cross stitchers. You can also work on canvas, including single canvas, which is woven from a single threads, interlocked canvas, and double (Penelope) canvas which is created using pairs of threads.
Cross Stitch Threads and Embroidery Silks
Of course, the fabric is only the basis of your cross stitch project; to bring it to life, you need a selection of threads to create the colours and textures. There are a variety of threads available for your cross stitch project, including stranded cotton, stranded silk, flower thread, perle cotton, soft embroidery cotton, metallic thread, and wool.
Cross Stitch Types
When you are creating your cross stitch, you will use a variety of stitches to create your pattern, including a half cross stitch, the quarter stitch, French knot, and various other types.
The one piece of kit you will always need to create a cross stitch is… a needle! A size 24 needle with a blunt end is best for general projects, although if you are giving a child a cross stitch project, you should always use a big, blunt ended needle which is safe for them to handle.
Cross Stitch Frames
You might also prefer to stretch your fabric over a hoop or frame, which makes the fabric and design it easier to see, although some cross stitchers much prefer to hold the fabric loose in their hands.