Pick of the pups

Eight fun dog designs to show off your skills

Pick out your perfect pooch and turn him into a fantastic gift! Try making a handy drawstring doggy bag – his brush, lead and biscuits never need go astray again ( great for travelling pooches, too). Or how about a hand stitched card, or a stitched picture as a reminder of a family pet? These charming designs are also great to liven up any item of clothing – why not customise a plain top with one of these fine furry friends? You could even embroider the designs onto napkins or handkerchiefs for a wonderful gift set for someone who’s just dotty about dogs.

You’ll be able to finish each design in just one evening. The speediest stitch is the Dalmation, which you can complete in two hours. The Old English

Sheep Dog will take around four hours as the design is more filled- in to capture the look of his shaggy coat.

All the dog designs look great worked with the outline stitches, or you can take things a step further by adding filling stitches to create more detail.