$1911

my husband mentioned something about making a blank alpha then cross stitching onto it. interesting idea but do u think it would be too bulky? i'll have to try it one of these days when i don't have so many projects going.

I've actually thought about this once or twice, but I'm not sure whether or not it would work. It SEEMS like it would, but I can't be sure. It would be a nice way to add more detail, definately. What I HAVE done is take a crossstitch pattern and turn it into a bracelet pattern. It wasn't huge, it's about 45 by 115 knots. I'm making it as a keychain, using #8 perle cotton.

I think it would be a bit bulky, especially if you're doing a lot of colors, but other than that I think it would actually be fine. Another thing to consider would be thickness of the blank alpha. It's been a few years since I last tried cross-stitching, but I think it would be pretty hard to sew through the seat belty-ness of an alpha. If you were planning on making a bracelet out of it, why not just use the regular cross-stitch fabric cut down to size? You could even put a fancy schmancy border on it...I'd say it's worth a try, but I'd test it first on a small one. If you used left over snips ffrom previous bracelet projects, it would solve the problem of what to do with the ones that aren't quite long enough to reuse!

I don't think it would be too much thicker, as long as you just use one or two strands for the stitching. You'd probably have to back it with felt or something though; all those loose strands would be a recipe for snagging.

I think it would depend on how close your knots are- I know I have trouble getting a needle through my alphas but if you were a lot looser at knotting it would probably be ok.

I don't know if you're still wondering about this, or even still interested. I'm making a pattern and in order to make it a bit more detailed, I'll be using the backstitch on it once I'm done. It's not really the same as cross stitching, but it's a similar concept. Do you want me to let you know when it's done?

sure. i'm curious