Craft apps on your iPhone are all well and good but what use are they for showing off your craft skills? I mean you can't prove your crafty prowess by flashing your app for measuring knitting gauge at someone. It just doesn't have that hands on glamour. Lucky for us crafty nerds there is a way we can get our craft geek and our tech geek on all at the same time - a cross stitch iPhone case is born!
I was sent a Neostitch iPhone 4 Case by Firebox to try out. Wanna see?
What do you get? The Neostitch iPhone case comes with a holey iPhone-sized case (which has 65 holes down and 30 across), three colours of embroidery thread (grey, turquoise and hot pink), a sewing needle, six cross stitch charts and basic cross stitch instructions.
I already know how the cross stitch basics (thanks to my pal Mr X Stitch) so I should point out that the booklet really does just show the basics. No, best practice stuff (such as using the loop method to start your project without a knot) but enough to show you what you need to know to begin.
As any true crafter should I immediately threw out the suggested designs (which include hearts, a sports car, and a rather twee teddy bear) and decided on a design of my own.
This is easy peasy to do as the case clearly tells you how wide and long the grid is so you can design your own pattern easily. In this case I adapted the intarsia 'London Space Invader' design from my Stitch London book.
I also used the blue from the kit but not the pink, plumping for my own Londony red instead. Embroidery thread is normally pretty good value as you only use one strand at a time (which you seperate from the rest of the strands before you begin), and they come in a fabulous range of colours from most crafty shops.
The kit really is easy peasy to use. Once you get the technique down and get into a rhythm it's fairly speedy. I finished mine while watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in native Swedish, which is a testament to just how easy it is since I was reading subtitles half the time.
Who is it for? This kit could be for anyone with a love of craft. Cross stitch is so easy to pick up they don't need to know a stitching thing before they begin. You're basically buying them a little blank canvas, which they can show off every time they answer their phone. Perfect for the crafty nerd in your life, or for anyone who wants their iPhone case to be unlike anyone else's.
