Dimensions Counted Cross Stitch Kit, Candy Cane Santa Christmas Cross Stitch, 16 Count Dove Grey Aida, 12'' x 16''

Cannot go wrong with Dimensions brand cross stitch kits, in my opinion! I’ve always been a fan since doing my very first counted cross stitch project (also a Gold Collection kit by Dimensions). I think a beginner can certainly stitch these kits if they have the patience and determination. The directions are very clear to understand and nowadays you can find video tutorials online all over the Net to help guide you if you are confused. But if you read and follow the directions and stitch your project in the order presented in the directions, I really don’t think you’ll have a problem in my opinion. Just remember to SEPARATE the 6 ply embroidery floss and then “reassemble” the plies according to the directions for each individual symbol!! Some symbols only use one ply, some use two plies, and some may even use four plies! Also, there are different stitches used (half cross stitch, whole cross stitch, back stitch, French knots) so you truly need to look at that chart of symbols carefully and follow the type of stitch noted at the top AND the number of plies used per individual symbol. If you happen to run out of floss (never has happened to me yet with a Dimensions kit!) you can contact the company for additional flosses you may need. I think the shading and back stitching in these kits is exceptional. They advise you to start in the center of the design to insure you have enough of a margin left around the finished piece for framing. However, if you simply look at the front of your kit, it tells you clearly what the size of your finished design will be. I measure the fabric and subtract the size of the finished design and easily can figure out how much of an unfinished margin of fabric will be left. For example, if the design is 16” wide, and the fabric measures 20” wide, you know you will have FOUR inches left over. Divide that in half, and you’ll see that you will need 2” on either side of your stitching for it to be centered. (Do the same with the height, of course). This way, you can simply measure 2” in from the side edge and top edge, and begin your stitching in the top left corner (my preference, anyway). But if you’re new to counted cross stitch and nervous, STICK TO THE DIRECTIONS and you’ll be fine!! Newbies might find Gold Collection kits to be a little challenging — but I seem to prefer the designs in the Gold Collection better than most of the “regular” Dimensions line of counted cross stitch kits. It’s all a matter of preference. You can do it folks!! It’s not brain surgery. Take your time and have fun and you’ll be proud of your finished pieces! And if you mess up, pull out the mistaken stitches and re-stitch! Even seasoned stitchers make errors so don’t beat yourself up.

Finished it in eight months, just before Christmas 🎄.Family loved it

I have been stitching dimensions kits both needlepoint and gold collection since 2002. This kit is definitely not for beginners. It is a challenging one given the shading effects all across the stitch. The final product came out very nice at the end of which I have attached a photo in this review.The Good: Beautiful shading, realistic outcome, literally looking at it makes me feel that I am looking out of a window into the surrounding Tuscan landscape, challenges experienced stitchers particularly in the area to the right of the wine glassThe Bad: Ran out of threads, the brown one and the mauve one. Contacted the company and they sent a DMC mapper which isn't very helpful as the shades do not match exactly across brands. Thankfully, had left over threads from dimensions kits I had made earlier which I was able to use and finish. The print on the aida is not straight and that makes it difficult when stitching in the bottom 15% of the aida. It is also hard to distinguish the difference between two printed colors on the aida in some of the areas. Took me a lot of time to really look at the picture and take a call on how to go about it.At the end with all the flaws, the outcome did not disappoint. Took me around 240 hours to finish the whole thing and now it is ready for framing after a bout of needed blocking.

Given away as a gift. Some might think it hard to do because of the shades of floss colors being so close to each other, but you soon get used to it.

I’ve done Dimensions kits for about 20 years and they’ve been my favorite. The patterns are beautiful and the instructions easy to follow. Due to an arm injury I hadn’t done them in several years but I’m able to do them now and I bought 3 of the kits including this one. The only change I noticed is that on 2 of the kits (I haven’t started the 3rd one yet) is that now I seem to run out of several colors of threads about 3/4 of the way through. This had happened only twice before in 20+ years I had done them. Before I would just contact them and they would send the thread free of charge. This time I contacted them, didn’t received any response and after a week I sent a second email and received a terse email in reply saying here’s a conversion chart to DMC thread colors and basically you’re out of luck buy them yourselves and hope the colors are close enough. I was very disappointed in Dimensions.

Same as describes

This is a great kit for an experienced stitcher. Lots of colors and stitch variation on 18 count Aida cloth. Love how the thread is already sorted and labeled by the colour number. The kit came quickly and was well packaged.

Looks amazing when completed. Lovely to do. Good quality product. Have done this twice. Second one used my own colours. Have framed them and they look stunning

Je ne l'ai pas encore commencé car je suis en train de broder un autre projet. Toutefois je connais bien la marque "Dimensions" qui crée de belles broderies de qualité. En ce qui concerne celle-ci, elle sera, à mon avis, magnifique une fois terminée et ressemblera indubitablement à un tableau étant donné qu'il s'agit d'Aïda 18 (les croix sont très petites). Bien sûr, le projet pour réaliser ce type d'oeuvre est long mais c'est ce qui fait son charme. Vous n'aurez que des compliments de la part de tous ceux qui le verront.Une dernière chose, la toile n'est pas imprimée (elle est vierge) et il faut être déjà un peu experte pour réaliser ce type de broderie car vous devrez suivre un schéma.Personnellement j'adore.

Candy Cane Santa - kit da ricamo molto desiderato. Questo design natalizio è semplicemente meraviglioso. Non vedo l'ora di cominciarlo! :))