As a kid, I liked to cross stitch- it’s so simple and easy to do! Add it to a pegboard and you instantly have affordable large scale art! I always wanted to make big art with cross stitch so I finally got around to it. Here’s the tutorial on how to make a DIY pegboard cross stitch wall art if you want to try your hand at this project too.
how to make DIY pegboard cross stitch wall art
Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:
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SUPPLIES
- Pegboard (mine is cut to 48″ wide by 66″ tall). Also available in 24″x48″ pegboard for a smaller scale
- Frame for the Pegboard
- Screws (get 2 packages)
- Yarn- I used 23 colors
- Impeccable Yarn– in Jade, Pumpkin, Cherry, Citron, Fern, Grass, Heather, Forest, Claret, Soft Taupe, and Deep Forest
- Charisma Yarn– in Red, Light Yellow Sorbet, Bone, and Sage
- Eco-Luxe Yarn– in Burnt Orange, Light Pink, Rose, Cream, and Mint
- Barcelona Roving Yarn– in Sage, Mustard, and Rust
- Scissors
- Yarn Needle
- Paint- Hint of Violet by Benjamin Moore
I bought a variety of yarn weights. I thought the different thickness and textures added dimension to the overall image.
Price breakdown- $33.50 peg board, $3 yarn needles, $100 cost of 23 yarn skeins, $20 cost of frame, and $3 screws. Total cost for this project- $160
step 1- create a pattern
Start by finding a picture to create the cross stitch pattern off of. After looking at a lot of examples on Pinterest, I personally favor the look of floral giant cross stitch art. I wanted to do tulips, so I bought clipart on Etsy of botanical flowers.
Then I uploaded it onto the free website FlossCross and they make a custom cross stitch pattern! You can choose how big your canvas is. Pegboard comes in 4’x8′ or 4’x4′ pieces with holes every 1 inch. Before you make the pattern, you need to know which size of pegboard you’ll be using. My pegboard will be 4’x5’6″ or 48″ x 66″
On the FlossCross website input in the size of the pegboard that will be used. For the pattern one square will be one inch so for the chart width I put in 48. For the chart height, I put in 66.
I also made sure to reduce the number of colors on my pattern to 25. Each color is a different skein of yarn that’ll be needed to create the project. If you have a lot of yarn on hand, that’ll make this project more affordable. I had to buy most of mine, so I reduced it to 25 to keep it realistic and somewhat affordable.
You can use this same method to create your own pattern too! Which I’d suggest.
I printed out my pattern to have on hand and to reference during the stitching process. I used it the whole time and it was very nice to have! On the page that shows the guide for the colors with the code, I cut out the yarn I selected so I could remember which color of yarn goes with what code. That was very helpful to have.
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step 2- cut the board
Next, cut the board to size. If you don’t have a saw, the hardware store can cut it. We drew a straight line and then used a table saw to cut the pegboard.
Once the pegboard is cut, clean the pegboard. Even if no cuts were made, pegboards have all the holes and they have brown dust from those being made. They slowly drop and can create a mess. I suggest using a vacuum to clean off the board. Do this before adding any stitches so the yarn doesn’t get dirty.
step 3- cross stitch
And now use yarn to create the pattern on the pegboard.
Tips to cross stitch on the pattern-
Use a marker to mark the coordinates on the grid. I marked every ten blocks over and the half way point. Then I used little post it notes to mark the number (10, 20, 30, etc.). That way my pegboard matched my pattern.
Start in one corner and work your way down and over. I found it easy to count the pattern incorrectly and get off if I tried to do one color all over the board. Instead, I preferred to work in 1/4 of the board with a color and then do the color next to it.
At the end of the yarn, I wrapped clear tape around it. That way it works like a needle without having to use a needle. This makes creating the cross stitch much quicker.
After trying that for awhile, I bought a yarn needle for $2.50 at the craft store. It was easy to thread (something I was worried about), and made it much faster to string the yarn through the pegboard.
If there’s a lot of one color of stitches in an area, cut a long strand of yarn. Then make a knot on the back of the first stitch then keep stitching. By not having to make a lot of knots, it makes the process go lots faster. Once you get to the end of that color of the end of the strand of yarn, make a knot on the back.
cross stitching tips
At first I was tying a knot for each stitch I put in, but that took forever and wasted yarn. I’d definitely recommend to do a nice long string of yarn and stitch as many of the corresponding colors with it as possible.
After working on this project for awhile, I decided I liked marking a bunch of the pegboard with what color goes where on the board. I just used washable kids markers for this so I had a bunch of different colors to use. It took awhile to mark everything out, but once it was done it was much quicker to stitch the right colors in the correct space.
Note, once everything was stitched, marker still showed. So I took a damp rag and cleaned up any extra marker that I could see.
This is a slow project, so anything you can do to make it go faster is helpful! One last tip I have is when stitching, push the yarn through one hole and through a second hole and pull the length of yarn. So instead of pushing the yarn through a hole, pulling the whole long string and doing that four times per x, you can do it twice per x.
step 4
Finally, once all of the stitching is complete, it’s time to frame the board. I bought cap molding to cover a portion of the board and nicely sit on top of it. We cut the frame with a miter saw.
Next, I painted the trim Hint of Violet by Benjamin Moore. It’s a soft lavender color and I think it’ll look super pretty.
To add the frame to the pegboard. I first used construction adhesive around the edge. Then, underneath, we drilled in little screws to hold the frame to the pegboard.
Last, to hang the pegboard on the wall, we used screws in the four corners to attach it directly to the wall. Then I used split wood balls that I painted white to cover the screws. I used glue dots to attach them to the frame.
after- reveal of the pegboard cross stitch
And after spending probably 7 days working on this, the DIY pegboard cross stitch wall art is complete!
The fun thing about this project is that it’s a great way to fill a large wall on a budget. Plus the yarn adds lots of texture and visual interest.
Also it’s completely customizable! You can make any picture you want out of yarn.
This was both a fun and never ending project. I LOVE how it turned out though. What do you think? Any questions on how to make this project? Let me know in the comments.
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