10 Ideas for Finished Cross Stitch Pieces That You Can Sell

In this episode, I am sharing 10 ideas for finished cross stitch pieces that you can sell.

You can listen to the episode below and grab the links mentioned in the episode too.

And there is an image below to pin this episode for later if you want to come back to it.

Closed Caption video coming soon.

Links mentioned

10 Ideas for Finished Cross Stitch Pieces That You Can Sell:

T-shirts
Canvas shoes
Aprons
Towels
Bookmarks
Mug cosies
Bunting/Garland
Lampshades
Portraits
Announcements/Samplers

I used to think there wasn’t much money to be made in selling finished pieces, but now I’ve been in business for 6 years I know that there are customers for everyone and people will pay for a custom, handmade item.

The problem usually with selling finished items is that they take such a long time, but I am making this easy and simple for you.

1. T-shirts

You can get wholesale plain t-shirts, ethically sourced, from another small business, etc and you can cross stitch a small design on them.

For example, many clothing companies (such as Joules) sell plain t-shirts with a small machine embroidery design on such as a bee or a word.

You could do the same but hand stitch, using cross stitches, small quick designs on the t-shirt and sell them.

You could also add a little something extra on such as a little logo on the bottom like Joules does with a bunny on all of their clothing.

2. Canvas shoes

A similar idea, but you can again get plain canvas shoes and stitch your cross stitch designs on them to sell.

I think this is more difficult than t-shirts because stitching on shoes is harder. Plus there aren’t many designs that will fit nicely on a shoe but I’m thinking florals would work beautifully.

A sharper needle will be your friend when stitching on shoes.

3. Aprons

Can you see the theme here? But with plain aprons, you could dye them (maybe even tie-dye) as most wholesale aprons will just be standard colours.

But then you can stitch on it! You can make this as big or small as you like.

I’m thinking these would be great for Mother’s/Father’s Day and just stitch a small design on the pocket to make it gift-worthy.

This makes the perfect present for cross stitch and baking/cooking loving family/friends!

4. Towels

You could stitch on tea towels or hand towels. I got this idea from my sister as she has just moved and wanted some personalised black hand towels as she likes to have 1 towel per person in her bathroom.

You can stitch directly on the towel or get an aida band, stitch on that and then attach that to the towel.

Again, this is a wonderful gift idea. People are always buying gifts for so many different occasions and getting into the gift-giving category when selling is a great idea,

5. Bookmarks

There are 2 types of bookmarks; corner or standard/traditional.

You could use aida band for bookmarks too or just a strip of aida to turn it into a bookmark.

The first thing I made from cross stitch was a bookmark for my mum.

These are so quick and easy to make so you can charge for your time and this price is still “reasonable”.

6. Mug cosies

Another nice and quick make. You can make cute and fun ones and you just need a small strip of aida and a small design, a cute quote about coffee/tea etc.

You could also make it into a holder for a water bottle for example and can make it with buttons on so people can change the size.

Or sell it attached to a mug or a water bottle and sell both together which would make a lovely gift.

You can obviously get plain holders, but how much nicer is it when it’s something with texture and it’s been handstitched and personalised?

7. Garland/bunting

The triangles, shapes you’re using etc are quite quick to stitch so makes a great one to sell.

You can get so creative here and could make each part a letter to spell out “happy birthday” or do what I did and each part was a kawaii ice cream that I hung up for a summer party.

And the best thing is that they’re reusable so people can get them out every year – a huge selling point right now!

8. Lampshades

These do take a lot longer, but people will pay extra for something like this. A custom lampshade can be £100s and people buy them.

You also don’t have to stitch the whole panel; I stitched a design on the front but left the rest blank and I love them!

Some tips – I think evenweave looks better but it frayed a lot when I was putting it together.

Also, I stitched them in white but I think a darker colour would look better as when the lamp is on you can really see through the fabric. I will try making one in darker aida and see what it looks like.

Once you have stitched it, actually putting together the shade doesn’t take too long either.

9. Portraits

You can do pet portraits or portraits of people and people will pay extra for something so detailed and personalized.

Also, they don’t have to be huge. The portraits and maybe some wording are so nice not their own that you don’t need anything else.

Plus you can frame in a hoop which is a simple finish and easy to post.

If you are framing in a traditional frame be careful about the glass. Personally, I leave the glass out or use a box frame so the glass isn’t sitting right on your design and squishing your stitches! Also, glass off looks nice because you can touch it and the texture is there.

10. Announcements/Samplers

A birth announcement, wedding or engagement announcement, etc. You could also tie this into number 9 and do a portrait with an announcement,

You can use all different fonts and texts and make them as big or as small as you like.

Again, they make great gifts for weddings, new baby, Christenings, etc.

They probably take the longest to make but don’t worry about charging for your time. People who want them will pay for them. They are worth it!

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it inspired you to try selling finished pieces as I do think it’s one of the easier ways to get started in business and it’s how I got started.

Also, remember that cross stitch pieces could just be 1 element of the business. For example, once you know how to make lampshades you could also sell plain ones for a bit cheaper and your custom cross stitch ones for a bit extra.

Same with the t-shirts, you might have cross stitch ones and then buy a heat press to also start selling ones with vinyl designs on them.

The one thing here is that you will have to design the cross stitch patterns yourself but I do have a course explaining how to use PC Stitch that you can read more about here. (This includes some patterns that you can use to sell finished items).

Or check out this episode on designing your own cross stitch patterns with Nicola from Mindful Stitching Co.

I also do allow you to use some of my patterns to sell finished pieces but you do have to get in touch first to read over the licence.

10 Ideas for Finished Cross Stitch Pieces That You Can Sell | S3E44

Links mentioned