| Create an Account


Wedding Cross Stitch Questions

comments (1) March 11th, 2010     

Pin It

mrickett mrickett, member
Love it! no recommendations
Add CommentAdd Comment
PrintPrint

Hello,

I have done Counted Cross Stitch and other hand embroidery in the past. I also sew. Lately I've been knitting and not embroidering ( Please don't flame me ;-)

My son will be getting married in Aug. 2010. I would like to make some heirlooms for the couple to carry on their wedding day and hopefully to be passed down in the family. 

I would appreciate thoughts from other embroiderers. Here is what I'm thinking:

For the Bride: Her paternal grandmother carried a prayer book at her wedding. The Bride's father would like the her to carry the prayer book for the ceremony. The book is old so I was thinking that I would make a cover for it, similar to the way you cover a school book with a brown paper bag only sewing the flaps. I'm thinking about embroidering the names and marriage dates of her 2 sets of grandparents, her parents and lastly the names of the Bride and Groom and their wedding date. 

Questions:
1. what fabric to use? I have waste canvas in several sizes on the way.
2. The fabric will be white. What color embroidery thread to use?
3. Is there special embroidery thread that will stand the test of time, not fade or run?
4. Placement of the embroidery on the book.

For the Groom: There is an Irish tradition where a hanky can be a baby bonnet and then turned back into a hanky to be carried on the Wedding Day. The bride will already have her hands full with flowers and prayer book so my son agreed to carry the hanky in a pocket.

http://www.magichanky.com/

On this I plan to embroider his grandparents names and wedding dates etc same as for the bride. I already have the fabric but questions 2 - 4 from above apply. 

For placement:

  • Start in the center?
  • Do each couple on one edge of the hanky?
  • Start at one edge and list down so that it can be added to?
My son and his fiance have selected green and lilac as the "colors" for their wedding and I thought about using the colors from each wedding but the old photos are in black and white and I don't think that there is any one left who would remember what the other colors were, if they even did that back in the 1940s.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. I very much appreciate them.

posted in: fabric, thread, keepsake, wedding, counted cross stitch
Add CommentAdd Comment PrintPrint
Back to List

Comments (1)

INSTITCHES79 writes: Hi,

First of all, I think your ideas are terrific!! I have been cross stitching for 12yrs & I absolutely love to make personalized gifts, especially for weddings.

Here are my suggestions for your questions:

For the bride:

1. I would use linen. Although it is smaller count, I think it would be much better than aida for a project like this. I am partial to belfast linen.
2. I would use the colors of your son & soon-to-be daughter-in-law's wedding. Since there are so many colors of green out there, I would definitely take the bride with me when purchasing the green thread or a sample of the color that they have selected.
3. Although I do not believe they make a special thread, I am partial to DMC. And, I was thinking, you may be able to find a clear, plastic protector to cover the embroidered cover at a specialty shop. This would help to protect the book and your work as well.
4. Placement will depend on size of your fabric for sure; but I would start out with graph paper, pick the font that you want to use for the names/dates, ect. Then, I would graph it out first. I would definitely center the project. Maybe taking into consideration to leave a little space under your son's name for their daughter/child.

For the groom:

2. Same as bride's.
3. Same as bride's; except I'm not sure if there is a clear protector for this.
4. I would add a simple border all the way around; maybe some pretty lilac flowers and ivy. Then, for the placement of the names, I would first graph them out as the same as the bride's, to center it. But, I would start as close to the top as I could to leave room to be added to. Oh, maybe you could add a lilac flower/ivy border to the prayer book as well?

I hope this helps you out. Happy stitching! I would love to know how it turns out!

~Jenn
Posted: 11:47 am on April 8th
You must be logged in to post comments. Click here to login.