I’m trying to get a few things finished before I start anything new, I like having several things on the go but every so often I feel I need to clear the decks a bit. Last night I managed to finish putting my gingerbread house together, it was a bit fiddly but I love it.

Last time I shared my progress I was still stitching the roof…

The roof needed some red and green stitches in the white squares and a gold bead in the brown square. I realised fairly quickly that I wasn’t going to have enough beads, I still had the baubles on the Christmas tree to do too. I counted up and I was 24 short. I sent an e-mail to Nutmeg Designs on bank holiday Monday, they replied with an apology on Tuesday and the beads arrived Thursday, pretty good service, especially knowing they are based in a little village in Swaledale, miles from a post office! I think someone got the quantities mixed up as I had loads of the clear beads left. Anyway, by Thursday night all the beads were stitched on.

The shapes are laced onto precut plastic canvas, this makes quite a good base as it’s bendable when you are trying to sew it, but once it’s all stitched together it’s fairly solid. The string of beads were stitched onto the edge of the roof and the porch at this stage too. I actually do wonder if the ones round the roof would be easier stitched on at the end as the thread was regularly catching on them.

The walls were stitched together to make the square building. That bit was easy enough. Next was the roof…third time lucky is the most apt phrase I think! The instructions do say this is the trickiest bit and they’re right! I think possibly my roof wasn’t 100% true, so when I tried to stitch it on the lower edge was very uneven. In the end I started the roof a couple of stitches above the gable end and that seemed to do the trick. The porch roof was a doddle after that!

Finally there was a square of brown felt to lace around a square of plastic canvas to make the base. Stitching this in really solidified the cottage.

I really enjoyed making this kit, I’m hoping in time to make the others in the collection, a chapel, a house and a tree, I’ll just give myself a bit more time before the festive season! If you fancy having a go at a 3D cross-stitch, do have a look at Nutmeg Designs, they have some lovely kits.