Adding a Crafty Zing

It was actually my big brother who drew my name for Christmas presents this year, but let's face it, we all know it was my super cute, smart, and stylish sister-in-law who picked this one out.

I was pretty excited to open up my present and find a DIY cross-stitch iPhone case waiting to be crafted. It took me a little while to decide what to do for the design. I basically went back and forth between the striped case featured at the Purl bee, and this free dandelion pattern which I found at The Zen of Making.

Originally, I decided to do the dandelions and the stripes, but as I got going, I thought it would be too busy. I loosely used the pattern, making the bottom dandelion bigger and adding a different background. It seemed to need the full background or else it was all lumpy, and I thought the white embroidery thread would get really dirty, really fast without some other thread around it.

It's a pretty fun case and I'm glad to have it. It might have been smart to actually know how to cross-stitch before I made it. I started with the dandelions and there's a knotty mess in the back, which makes the whole thing a little lumpy. Fortunately for me, I don't really care!