Prepping H.I.M. Cross-Stitch Kits

Last night I realized that I had been secretly excited all day to finally be able to go to the art supply story to get rubber cement. It was part of the last step in my process of making cross-stitch kits for my HIM pattern, and it was a very nice little reflection moment for me on how happy making stuff like this makes me. Yes, I also had thoughts on the other side of the spectrum (the usual wondering why I do it, if it’s overall a waste of time, etc etc), but in the end, it was a lovely moment where the pure happiness won out.

Rubber cement reminds me of middle school art class, taught to me by a great art teacher who 1. had a hand chair in his classroom, 2. ran a morning Breakfast Club program with bagels that actually might have been detention now that I think about it, and 3. told us all of the fingers on one hand were cut off and sewn back on after a circular saw carpentry accident. I just tried unsuccessfully to find his name online (my memory is terrible, and I was in middle school at the turn of the century), so I will honor his memory and impact on me with this star: ⭐️

I didn’t find his name as I internet searched, but I did find a Sunday NYTimes from 1999 that featured my school district in an article about the “Social Dance” ballroom lessons they taught at our school (only the girls wore gloves - fond memories). Funnily enough, that paper also has a Letter to the Editor-style “note” written by a professor I had later in college. Here are some other fun things I found in that Aug 15,1999 NYTimes (you can give it - and whatever year you want - a look on the TimesMachine archive if you want)…

I’m glad to see Blair Witch mentioned in the Style section in a somewhat arts-and-crafts kind of way (I searched eBay for one of those stick men and came up empty ☹️). I will also be using the phrase “hex appeal” going forward, and I got a nostalgia wave from seeing the movie theater times posted in the newspaper. I felt like I saw a celebrity when I spotted Jokerman font in that Dunkin Donuts ad, and I’m wondering how I will “stretch my instincts for Fall.” I do not want to learn more about the contest to get the most dog kisses in 30 seconds, or the wet shirt dog competition.

Anyway! Back to rubber cement and making kits for my HIM cross-stitch pattern. I’ve had a little down time this week because I’ve been feeling under the weather, so it was a good time for making kits. Sometimes I want to make things but don’t have enough creative energy or can’t really focus on making something new. Those are almost always good times for me to somewhat brainlessly assemble things. As I got started making the kits, I ran into a few moments that required some very minor Googling and designing (just enough that it didn’t hurt my brain) which I thought could possibly be helpful to share.

First, I was a little uncertain about the amount of embroidery floss to include with each kit. Every time I fill an order on Etsy, I get a pang of deep fear that I’m making a huge mistake with the thing I’m selling and that it’ll fall apart right away. For this project, I was concerned that I’d include either too little (which would leave kit users up the creek) or too much (not really a problem, but kind of a waste for me, I guess) embroidery floss. So, I tried to figure out how to estimate the amount to include for each kit. Back to good old Stitch Fiddle!

I remembered having seen a stitch count per color in the settings section on Stitch Fiddle, so I went back to give it a look. Voila - the program lists out the number of times each color is used for a stitch. After a little searching, I found a website that calculates the estimated length of floss needed based on the number of stitches - their explanation of how they got their formula was also a fun read.

Stitch count (click the little painting palette under the colors on the lefthand side of your chart)

The presets they included on the chart were perfect (although they’re British, so they use metric) - the DMC skeins I’m using (and the kind most widely available in stores, from what I’ve seen) are 8m each. The equation translates the requirements into fractions of skeins (ex. 1/4 of a skein), so I did a little bit of math (1 skein = 8m = 315 inches, so I multiplied 315 with 1/4, etc) to find out how many inches of each color I needed. Then, to be cautious, I added another twenty inches or so just in case. I wrapped each of these different colors of floss onto plastic cards, which was exactly the kind of mini manual labor task I was looking for.

Twenty card wind-ups and two Vincent Price movies later (The House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum, to be exact - both of which were great imo), I was done and ready to figure out a solution for including a sewing needle in the kit.

A little off-color rainbow of flosses.

I wanted to figure out a way to safely include the needle while also keeping it cute and hopefully stylistically cohesive with the booklet, which features some of my hand-drawn illustrations. My first thought was to make a little folded up piece of card stock and tape it, and then I figured I’d just try to find something at a store, and then I remembered that I have a Cricut, super bright card stock, and what felt like infinite time. I started by looking for a coin envelope template online, ultimately picking this one. (Not to jump ahead too quickly, but I want to note before I forget - this template was nice but had a pretty slim overlap area for the sides and bottom. I think it’s okay, but if/when I make more, I’ll probably add a tiny bit more room so there’s more overlap.)

My inspo for the needle envelope was one I found in a kit a few years ago, and which I can’t find anywhere right now - argh! The envelope is a little coin-sized one with an illustration on the front of a needle saying, “Careful! I’m sharp!” It was a kit for kids, and I thought it was so cute and useful. While I was looking for it in my closet, I found another cute little envelope that I love - a glittery one that comes with each month’s delivery of Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Club (magical) subscriptions. So, let’s say these two envelopes and my general love of small office supplies inspired me.

I started by drawing an envelope illustration image on Procreate on my iPad. I then began figuring out how to integrate the drawing with the cutting feature of my Cricut Joy.

Long story short - I ended up ditching the Cricut element of the plan (it has been having trouble cutting all the way through materials, regardless of the settings I put it on - a little bit frustrating). Instead, I kicked it old school and made a cardboard template of the envelope. I printed out a card stock sheet with multiple copies of the image on it, and then I traced the template and cut each envelope out. They aren’t perfect, but it was a less frustrating process than dealing with the Cricut, and it was nice to just chill and enjoy cutting out the shapes.

And then, time for the ✨ rubber cement ✨. I like rubber cement the best for paper-on-paper gluing, especially when the parts that are being joined will be moved around and pushed on. It just seems to hold a lot better than an Elmer’s glue stick, and it’s so much neater than tape. I put a little cement on the front and back of the center seam overlapping parts, waited for them to dry, and then went over the seal with my bone folder to make sure it was secure. Same for the bottom flap and its area of overlap, and all done! It’s the best because any excess glue can just be rubbed off without leaving a trace. A+.

The other parts of the kit were fairly straightforward to assemble, which was great because I think I had just approached the limit of time I wanted to spend on the project. I used my beloved long-reach stapler to make the booklets - this majestic office item has seen me through hundreds of little journals and zines and every printed copy of The Dream. I put the contents (booklet, hoop, piece of aida cloth, embroidery floss, needle, kit cover) in a 6x9 plastic bag with a resealable top so it can be used as a project bag. DONE!

The final step was a little photoshoot, which turned out so-so to me - it was tricky to get the three different shades of white to look good with each other. Here was my setup:

I used a plastic-y poster board as my base, and foam wedges as stands for the kit and framed cross-stitch.

Basically, I taped a plastic-coated poster board to my closet door and rested it on a stool - this was to create a softer “infinite” background in the pictures. I used some thickish white foam as stands for the finished sample and the kit itself. The foam stands worked out pretty well - they were a little rickety but got the job done, mostly because I used painters tape to secure them to the paper underneath. I then arranged all of the contents of the kit in as artful a way as a I could, but also was just like, This is good enough. Photoshoots stress me out because I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, so I’ve been trying to just get through them as quickly as I can lately.

Here’s the lighting setup I used - three different lights.

For lighting, I used two clamp lamps on the sides, draping a thin layer of cotton voile over them to make the lights less harsh and to soften the shadows. I also had a lamp angled down from overhead over my camera. There are still shadows in the pictures, but they’re a little less distracting than when I didn’t have the fabric covers or three different light sources. I used my Canon Rebel for the photos and edited them with Preview on my computer. The white balance was pretty wacky, and I feel like I might have overcompensated trying to even it out. But, overall, I’m okay with them.

Here’s the result. Not perfect, but good enough. And, here’s the listing.

Overall, it was a fairly meditative process with some little moments of problem-solving, so I’d consider that a good time. Yes, I only ended up making four kits, but if I do end up needing more, I think I figured out some process solutions here that will make future production a little easier. Oh also, If I ever find that “I’m sharp!” envelope, I’ll post it here - if by crazy coincidence you too have encountered that little envelope before, let me know!

Yours in crafts,