HOW TO… USE A COOKIE CUTTER STENCIL

Create a star shape to surround with stitching with this easy method.

Step1

START by tracing around your star cookie cutter with a dressmaking pencil, directly onto your linen fabric. (Dressmaking pencils can be brushed to remove any visible lines).

Step 2

CREATE a crisp sided star, by backstitching along the pencil line, following the fabric grain, rather than splitting. Work over several threads at a time if necessary to follow the shape.

Step3

COMPLETE all the backstitch – now you can cross stitch around it. We’ve used a circle of cross stitch to fit our covered button here, but a square block is absolutely fine too and is perfect for a making into a card or gift tag.

Step 4

TAKE a look at this close-up image as it shows some of the fractional stitches used to create the diagonal sides. Go with whichever looks ` best to fill the area, rather than doing a traditional fractional stitch.