DIY: Floral Cross Stitch Sweater

Ever since I made my heart cross stitch sweater I have been looking for another way to implement cross stitching into apparel. I just love the way this turned out.

I was inspired by much more expensive cross stitch sweaters like this and this.

 

refashioned forever 21 sweater $16 | similar here, here, and here

ponte knit blazer - $24

high waisted denim legging - $23 (in love with these)

UO mint peeptoes - $15 | similar here, here, and here

The key to this project is finding a shirt that already incorporates a grid with a waffle pattern and then doing cross stitch as intended, by counting squares. I used a large embroidery hoop (shown here) to stabilize the project while I worked on it.

The shirt is leaning into saccharine territory - it's pink, it's floral, and it's cross stitch. I made a choice to pair the pale pink with bold primary colored embroidery floss to make it more modern. I also toughened up the style with these ripped jeggings (which I am surprised at how much I love) and a black blazer.

It wasn't a super quick project but it was incredibly easy. And I found the process of cross stitching to be really soothing. Makes me want to do more projects with it!

Here is the pattern I used:

If you have any questions about the project, please leave them in the comments & I'll do my best to answer.