When I saw this mizrach cross stitch on the bookshelf in a friend’s house in Jerusalem, I thought to myself “now that is a great thing to make in cross stitch, why didn’t I think of that?” The first step towards actually making one myself is sharing with you how to make a classic mizrach cross stitch with hebrew letters, as this could be just the project you are looking for? And while I have done many many cross stitch pieces this year, they’ve all been framed in embroidery hoops, and I was certainly not familiar with the idea of framing the work with a “matt” made from cross stitch canvas in a different color.
For those who do not know what a “mizrach” is, well mizrach means “east” namely the direction of Jerusalem from Europe and the USA. A piece of art that says “mizrach” is placed on the eastern wall so that one knows in which direction to pray. All synagogues are situated such that the ark containing the torah scrolls is on the eastern wall. In Israel, the ark is situated on the wall that points towards Jerusalem. So that is correct, in Israel art that says “mizrach” is usually NOT placed on the eastern wall, unless you live at the tip of the Dead Sea just before the Jordan border?
I hope you are not thinking that I will be providing a chart, rather I will tell you how to look at this photo and quite simply make a pattern yourself using graph paper! The letters are filled in with traditional cross stitch and then outlined with a seed stitch. The little doo-dads on each end are a bit confusing to my eye and especially the one on the right side, so do move it over a stitch or so so it does not touch the mem.
Are you inspired to create a mizrach cross stitch? I know I am, but certainly not with stitches this tiny, but rather twice the size, so much easier!
While I’m not exactly sure how the frame using the burgandy canvas was made, I’d cut a window, secure with iron on interfacing, and then use tiny stitches to around the opening to keep it from unraveling.
This would make an amazing gift, right? Go for it!
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