Avlea Folk Fabric Sampler Ivory Cross Stitch Kit

$28.00

Designer: Avlea Folk Embroidery
• Project Type: Cross Stitch Bookmark Sampler
• Finished Project: Set of Three Bookmarks
• Stitch Area: 20–21 x 105 Stitches Per Bookmark
• Stitch Count: 3,131 Cross Stitches Total
• Stitches Used: Cross Stitch
• Skill Level: Beginner
• Format: Kit

Kit Includes

• One 4" x 10" Piece of 26-Count 100% Cotton Traditional Groundcloth
• One 4" x 10" Piece of 26-Count 100% Cotton Mikini in Ivory
• One 4" x 10" Piece of 30-Count 100% Cotton Mikini in Ivory
• DMC 6-Strand Embroidery Floss
• John James Size 24 Cross Stitch Needle
• Full-Color Chart and Instructions

Product Description

Avlea’s Folk Fabric Sampler Ivory is designed as an introduction not only to cross stitch, but to the traditional fabrics used in folk embroidery. Instead of stitching a single project on one groundcloth, you'll create three beautiful bookmarks on three different fabrics, allowing you to experience their distinctive textures and characteristics firsthand.

The kit includes Avlea’s three most popular folk embroidery fabrics: 26-count Traditional Groundcloth, 26-count Mikini in ivory, and 30-count Mikini in ivory. Working the fabrics side by side gives you the opportunity to see and feel how fabric count and construction influence both the stitching experience and the finished embroidery.

Each bookmark features a different traditional border—a small diamond, laurel leaf, or carnation—worked in a classic Mediterranean palette of terra cotta, warm blue, green, and gold. Together they create a coordinated set that's both useful and a wonderful introduction to the visual language of Mediterranean folk embroidery.

Designed specifically for beginners, the sampler is worked entirely in cross stitch and requires no previous experience. The full-color chart and instructions guide you through the project from your first stitch while the manageable bookmark format gives you three opportunities to practice and build confidence.

Why We Love It at A Show of Hands

This is exactly the kind of beginner kit we love because you're learning more than a stitch. You get to work with three different traditional embroidery fabrics and discover firsthand how each one feels in your hands—something that's difficult to understand from a description alone.

And at the end of the experiment, you haven't simply made a sampler. You have three beautiful, useful bookmarks featuring traditional motifs that you can keep, tuck into favorite books, or give as gifts.

Perfect For

• First-time cross stitchers
• Beginning folk embroiderers
• Exploring different embroidery fabrics
• Learning to work with different fabric counts
• Mediterranean folk art enthusiasts
• Book lovers
• Small, approachable stitching projects
• Handmade gifts
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Gather and craft Join us in our store for crafting, to ask questions, or dream up new projects!
Pay with Apple Pay We offer Apple Pay as a swift and secure way to make a payment at checkout.
Order online, collect in-store Choose in-store collection at checkout to pick up your order at select Fresh locations.
Gather and craft Join us in our store for crafting, to ask questions, or dream up new projects!

We’re here for the love of it and the fun of it. For the craft that connects us to something older than any of us.

Fiber Information

Yarn Weight + WPI

Yarn weight refers to the thickness of a yarn. Thickness determines appropriate needle or hook size, finished fabric density, and yardage requirements. Standard weight categories from thinnest to thickest: lace, fingering, sport, DK, worsted, bulky, super bulky.


Weight labels on yarn are approximate. Wraps per inch (WPI) gives a more precise measurement. To measure WPI: wrap yarn snugly around a ruler for one inch, without overlapping strands or stretching. Count the wraps.


WPI reference:

  • 30+ WPI: lace
  • 20–28 WPI: fingering
  • 14–18 WPI: sport
  • 11–14 WPI: DK
  • 9–11 WPI: worsted
  • 7–8 WPI: bulky
  • Fewer than 7 WPI: super bulky

WPI is most useful when a label is missing, when substituting yarns, or when working with handspun yarn.

Gauge and Sett

Gauge is the number of stitches and rows per inch in a knitted or crocheted fabric. It is determined by yarn weight, needle or hook size, and individual tension. A pattern’s gauge is the measurement the designer used to calculate sizing. If your gauge does not match the pattern, your finished dimensions will differ. A small difference over many inches makes a big difference in fit.

To adjust gauge: a smaller needle or hook produces more stitches per inch; a larger needle or hook produces fewer. The goal is to match the pattern’s gauge, not its suggested needle size.


Sett is the weaving equivalent of wraps per inch (WPI). Sett controls how open or dense the finished woven cloth will be. A standard starting point for sett is half the WPI for a balanced plain weave. Twill structures generally require a slightly closer sett; lace structures a more open one.


Both gauge and sett are starting points that need to be confirmed by sampling. Calculate first, then verify with a swatch. Record what you find; your future self will thank you.

Wet Blocking

Blocking is the process of wetting a finished piece, shaping it, and allowing it to dry. It evens out stitches, sets the final dimensions, and for lace, opens the pattern fully.


For protein fibers (wool, alpaca, cashmere): soak in cool water with a small amount of wool wash until fully saturated, typically 15 to 20 minutes. Gently press out water without wringing. Roll in a towel to remove excess moisture. Lay flat, shape to finished measurements, and pin if needed. Allow to dry completely before moving.


For lace pieces, blocking wires threaded through edge stitches produces cleaner lines than pins alone.


Fiber-specific notes:

  • Wool holds its blocked shape well once dry.
  • Silk and silk blends block well and dry quickly.
  • Linen and cotton do not respond to blocking the same way protein fibers do, but wet finishing still softens and settles the fiber.
    Steam blocking is appropriate for fibers that should not be fully saturated. Hold the iron several inches above the surface. Do not press down on wool -- direct pressure and heat flatten the fiber's loft.

    Block to finished measurements, not to the dimensions of the piece as it came off the needles or loom.