Turn your cross stitch into your very own cute padded cube toy with our step-by-step guide
Follow our easy-sew tutorial to turn your cross stitching into a fun toy – perfect for a handmade gift idea for babies and little ones in the family.
We've featured transport-themed charts from issue 272 (October 2018) of The World of Cross Stitching in this post, but you can simply alter the stitched motifs to personalise this idea to update this project for your little one's favourite things!
Main image: The World of Cross Stitching issue 272, designed by Jenny Barton
Stitch six of the small vehicle designs onto separate pieces of aida. Cut each one to a 9x9cm (3½x3½in) square positioning the designs centrally.
Select one design to be your centre panel and then, with right sides together, stitch four of the other designs to it – one along each edge with a 1cm (½in) seam. Press out the seams. You should now have a cross shaped panel.
Extend one of the points of your cross by stitching your remaining square along the outside edge, with a 1cm ( ½in) seam. Press out the seam.
Fold up the points of your cross and pin adjacent side edges together along the 1cm (½in) seams. Stitch the edges in place so that you have an inside out cube with a ‘lid’ at the top.
Stitch two of the edges of the ‘lid’ to the top edges of the cube along the 1cm (½in) seam. Trim away excess fabric from seams and turn through. Stuff the cube and then hand stitch up the final edge to finish.
These measurements will work for any design measuring a maximum of 6x6cm (2¼x2¼in). However, they can be easily adjusted to fit any designs by taking the maximum height/width of your chosen designs and adding 3cm (1¼in).
