When Sara's twin babies were born she wanted to do some cross stitching for their nursery, but couldn't find any modern designs she liked – so she decided to make her own. Soon her shop, Little Beach Hut, was born.
Sara now has dozens of cross stitch kits to choose from in her shop, and she also sells her patterns as digital downloads. We were sent her Otter Family kit to test – read on to find out why it's one we'll be making again and again.
Jump straight to:
- Summary
- How we tested
- Little Beach Hut Otter Family cross stitch kit review
- Where to buy the Little Beach Hut Otter Family cross stitch kit
- Our verdict: should you buy the Little Beach Hut Otter Family cross stitch kit?
- Looking for more?
Summary
Beautifully designed and presented, this versatile kit gives you three customisation options, with the chance to choose between one, two or three baby otters. It would make a lovely gift for a growing family.
- Buy now from Etsy
How we tested
We tested the Little Beach Hut Otter Family cross stitch kit by completing the kit using the materials and instructions given, with the addition of our own hoop and embroidery scissors. To arrive at our star rating, we considered five key areas:
- Packaging and design
- Materials and tools
- Instructions
- Ease of use
- Value for money
Little Beach Hut Otter Family cross stitch kit review
Key features
This kit includes three variations on the design, featuring one, two or three otter pups, and enough thread to complete the largest version of the pattern. The finished design size is 12.5 x 13 cm (4.9" x 5"). The kit comes with:
- Thread chart with DMC embroidery thread
- 14 count aida
- Size 16 cross stitch needle
- Full colour, gridded pattern with key
- Beginner's guide to cross stitch
- 15.5cm (6") embroidery hoop (optional)
Packaging and design – 5/5
The first thing I noticed about this kit was how well presented it was. It came in a gift-wrapped parcel tied with string and decorated with a peg, artificial flower and cut-out butterflies.
The thoughtful little touches continued as I opened it up. The thread chart was hand-written, with a sweet otter illustration, and there was even a little note from the seller. Everything was neatly packaged, with the threads organised on the chart, the needle attached to a small piece of felt, and the three designs printed on sheets of A4 paper.
A lot of love went into the creation of this product, and it's clear that by purchasing it you're supporting a small, independent business.
Materials and tools – 5/5
All of the materials in this kit felt high-quality and durable. The aida had well-defined holes and showed minimal fraying as I stitched, and there was enough excess to easily allow framing in a 6-inch hoop.
The needle was smooth and shiny, and I appreciated that it was packaged on a separate piece of felt, rather than tucked into the aida.
With the thread coming from DMC (a trusted, familiar brand), I had no worries about its quality – and as expected it was lovely to work with.
The quantity of floss provided was more than enough to complete the kit, giving me a bit of reassuring wiggle room in case I lost any threads along the way, or didn't want to work too hard at keeping the back neat and tidy.
Instructions – 4/5
The instructions are clear, concise and beginner-friendly, with guides to all the stitches required and links to Little Beach Hut's how-to videos on YouTube for more complex techniques. I particularly appreciated the French knots video, which was a big help.
However, I missed the advice on how to work fractional stitches on squares that also include backstitch, which was right at the bottom of the last page. By the time I realised my error, I had already completed three of the otters, too much to unpick. Eagle-eyed readers will easily spot the duplicate ½ stitches where I went wrong!
Perhaps the organisation of information could have been clearer, with all of the how-tos for fractional stitches grouped together. It would also have been lovely to receive a guide tailored to this particular pattern, rather than a generic instruction sheet.
That said, I can't fault the instructions for my mistake; as someone who regularly follows recipes and patterns I should of course have known to read to the end before I started!
Ease of use – 3/5
As this pattern includes not only whole stitches and backstitch, but also fractional stitches, long stitches and French knots, I would say that it's best for an intermediate to advanced stitcher, or a confident beginner looking to expand their skills. Parts of the pattern are printed across two different pages, which may prove an extra challenge for newer stitchers.
The chart is printed in colour, with additional symbols to help you differentiate between the shades. There are 8 threads used in this design and no more than two shades of a particular colour, which helped make both the chart and key easy to follow.
I found that the reference picture provided was quite small, making it hard to see the finished design. I had to visit the Little Beach Hut Etsy shop to find a bigger version when I needed to check my work.
Also there may be a couple of small misprints in the two-pup version of the pattern. One is that three symbols rather than two are shown in square 13/36 of the chart.
The other is that one of the baby otters has dark green eyes, though they appear to be black in the reference photo. The shades are very hard to distinguish on paper and I spent a while looking for the green French knots in the chart.
Neither of these would impact the finished design, though they did cause me a little bit of confusion.
Value for money – 5/5
At £18 for the basic version and £22 for the kit with a hoop included, the price of this kit is comparable to others of a similar size and represents very good value for money.
As there are three versions of the pattern it can easily be adapted for friends and family, or as your own family grows – I can see it becoming my go-to new baby gift.
I'm also very tempted by the Otterly In Love version with two otters, which would make a perfect wedding present…
Where to buy Little Beach Hut Otter cross stitch kit
- Buy now from Little Beach Hut.
Our verdict: should you buy the Otter Family cross stitch kit?
With its super-cute design and clever three-in-one pattern, I'd definitely recommend this kit. It's great value and lots of fun to stitch.
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