Avlea Kyivan Stars Cross Stitch Folk Embroidery

$42.00

• Designer: Avlea Folk Embroidery
• Project Type: Cross Stitch Folk Embroidery Table Runner
• Finished Size: 12" x 20"
• Stitch Area: 143 x 265 Stitches
• Stitch Count: 11,521 Cross Stitches
• Stitches Used: Cross Stitch
• Skill Level: Confident Beginner
• Available As: Kit or Paper Pattern

Cross Stitch Kit Includes

• One 14" x 22" Piece of 30-Count 100% Cotton Mikini in White
• DMC 6-Strand Embroidery Floss
• John James Size 24 Cross Stitch Needle
• Full-Color Chart and Instructions

Paper Pattern

Includes the chart and instructions for creating Kyivan Stars using your own fabric, floss, and needle.

Product Description

Avlea’s Kyivan Stars is inspired by a vintage Ukrainian table runner from designer Krista West’s personal textile collection. The original dates to the 1970s and features a wonderfully bright palette, which Avlea reimagined in softened shades of butter yellow, deep grey, warm blue, terra cotta, and soft green.

Dense decorative borders anchor each end of the runner, connected by delicate rows of stitches and stylized floral motifs that travel across its length. The combination gives Kyivan Stars a distinctive rhythm and geometry while reflecting the richly ornamented borders and multiple motifs often found in traditional Ukrainian folk embroidery.

The updated palette gives the design a softer, more contemporary character while preserving the structure and spirit of the vintage textile that inspired it. The result is a piece that feels rooted in Ukrainian embroidery tradition without looking like a reproduction.

Worked entirely in cross stitch, Kyivan Stars is classified as a Confident Beginner project. The technique itself is straightforward for anyone comfortable reading a chart, while the 11,521-stitch design provides a larger, satisfying project to enjoy over many stitching sessions.

The finished table runner measures 12" x 20". Please note that the drawn-thread hem shown in the finished photographs is completed after the embroidery. Fabric included in the kit arrives with the raw edges serged to prevent unraveling while you stitch.

Why We Love It at A Show of Hands

We love the transformation behind Kyivan Stars. Avlea took the exuberant colors of a vintage 1970s embroidery and softened the palette without losing the distinctive geometry and character of the original piece.

It's also a beautiful introduction to Ukrainian folk embroidery. The combination of dense borders, smaller connecting motifs, and carefully repeated geometry creates a finished textile with remarkable visual richness using just one fundamental stitch.

Perfect For

• Confident beginning cross stitchers
• Ukrainian folk art and textile lovers
• Table runners and decorative linens
• Geometric and floral embroidery
• Traditional handwork
• Slow stitching projects
• Vintage textile enthusiasts
• Handmade heirlooms
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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.