Make a Cross Stitch Patch

Let’s make a cross stitch patch out of a small cross stitch project! Here I’m using my rainbow cross stitch pattern, but any design that’s a couple of inches/5 cm or so around will be fine for a project like this.

Or if you’re making a patch to cover a hole in a garment, an even larger design could be done in the same way.

Supplies

To make a cross stitch patch, you’ll need your stitched design, a piece of felt or other fabric, embroidery floss, a needle and scissors.

Felt is great for this project because it doesn’t fray when you cut it. If you don’t have any, use a bit of old T-shirt, or just any fabric you have on hand. The stitching on the edges should help at least slow down the fraying. You could also cut regular fabric with pinking shears before stitching.

Note: If you want to turn your patch into an iron-on, do not use felt. The felt you can buy at the big-box stores is acrylic and can melt under the heat of the iron.

How to Make a Cross Stitch Patch

First, decide on the size and shape of your cross stitch patch. I wanted to make mine a circle, but it was too close to the edge of the fabric to make a circle where the design would be centered, so I opted for a rectangle.

I cut around all the sides of the fabric leaving five unworked squares around each side of the finished stitching.

Cut your felt or fabric to the same size.

Choose embroidery floss that coordinates with your fabric like I did if you want, or you can make it a totally different color. When the stitching is done you can’t really see the back, so it doesn’t matter if the thread matches.

Using blanket stitch, stitch around the edges of the patch, sewing the backing fabric to the cross stitch fabric. I worked in every hole around; you can do even more stitching if you want it to look more like a traditional purchased patch.

That was easy!

Ways to Use Your Patch

Now that you’ve made a cross stitch patch, it’s time to contemplate how to use it. Here are some of my ideas:

You can sew it onto jeans or other fabric to cover a hole.

Add a pin backing to the back and wear it like a pin or put it on your bag. Or make this super cute variation on a cross stitch brooch from Bugs and Fishes.

Use fusible interfacing or Heatnbond to turn your patch into an iron on patch. Again, don’t use felt if this is your plan. Check out the post from Sirious Stitches that shows making an iron-on patch with cross stitch without using fabric on the back. (I haven’t tried this but I think I’d still like the fabric on the back just to make it thicker.)

You could also just display it this way as an alternative to using a frame.

How would you use a cross stitch patch? I’d love to hear your ideas!