#cross stich pattern

First off, here is the pattern downloadable from Dropbox (a black and white version + alternative colours for the backstitch threads can be provided just hit me up)

All thread used is DMC brand and 3 strands of thread is used for all of the full stitches (backstitches have their own colour coordinated thing to show how many threads to use)

I recommend choosing a plastic canvas that’s white as it helps give it a nice solid outline but translucent ones do exist. I *think* typical plastic canvas comes in 14 count but be aware there is larger counts out there like 11 or bigger which are more suited towards yarn work

Another thing I’d recommend is buying some pliers meant for jewellery work just because sometimes the needle can be a pain to pull through the holes/through the back of stitches to secure and it will destroy your fingers

To back this piece I use a black felt with an adhesive backing on it, and used a craft knife to cut out the middle of the area where the chains would go, it can be a bit of a pain to cut through the felt so make sure it’s a sharp blade and you can cut away the excess fluff/fabric that’s left at the back and make the hole cleaner

Also make sure to take care about how you stitch around the very top of the thruible and bottom of the handle! You don’t want to accidentally cut through the threads when you’re cutting out the middle, I always just made sure to keep an eye on the back and thread my active thread under existing stitches if I needed to move down a few stitches (just to make extra sure there’s no thread possibly hanging around the cutting zone)

I brought a set of different sized jump rings just to add some nice variation in the chain, doing 2 big ones at either side and 4 smaller ones in the middle

If you’re not experienced on stitching on plastic canvas it can take a bit of a toll on your fingers (idk how I used to do it for weeks on end when I was younger), it can be hard to pull the needle through or push it through, so sometimes I did have plasters on hand as a buffer when my fingers got too sore.