Cross stitch kits that aren't twee?

[twoandahalftimesthree]

I loved cross stitch as a child/teenager and I'm looking to resurrect the hobby so I have tried looking for kits. I am really not the teddy bear type and my dd is 11 now so can't even do them for her, I wouldn't dream of doing one for ds!
I fancy some sort of life affirming/positive phrase but I can't seem to find anything more modern to do. Any ideas?

Have you thought about designing your own?

There are tons of cross stitch fonts and motifs (for borders and such) online and with a bit of graph paper it's really easy to make patterns up.

How about one of these? Can I recommend number 8?

The penultimate one here is very MN... Also some slightly more sensible ideas there too!

Not kits as such, but weelittlestitches do some great PDF patterns on Etsy, not particularly twee...especially love the Spanish inquisition one!www.etsy.com/uk/shop/weelittlestitches?ref=pr_shop_more

Would agree with do your own. I do needlepoint and found own designs infinitely easier as you pretty much pencil the basic design and then wing it! mistakes alteration in the design as you go along make it more personal... Agree with pp about guides for fonts etc online.

AGnu, got one from the first site you linked to- loved the rude ones tho! I will design my own next time I think. I used to design when I was younger but right now I just want to sit and sew with all the right bits, not to have to go out and buy fabric and threads etc.

I love what delilah did patterns

I really like pretty much all the patterns at www.modernfolkembroidery.com - quite old-school but modern, Swedish-inspired patterns.

www.modernfolkembroidery.com

I bought a really lovely one on ebay recently. Like a watercolour still-life. From a seller in Eastern Europe. I'll have a rummage.

Similar to this;

floral still life

Traditional but not twee(?)

But that particular seller has a really eclectic range. Maybe I'm hopelessly out of date, but there's plenty in there that seemed much better than the same-old to me (plus some complete tatt!)

terracotta portrait

pre war woman sketch

Klimt

floral still life

wildflowers

Safari

Doh! Completely missed the 'phrase' bit Sorry!

sublimestitching.com is good..

Definitely not life afirming but really fun to stitch ...I'm stitching bothy threads Mr Men calendar

Get a book of alphabet charts and design your own?

I can really recommend the kits from here www.whatdelilahdid.bigcartel.com I've done two now and really enjoyed them!

Missed the phrase bit too, sorry!

How about

www.etsy.com/listing/125489591/modern-dollhouse-cross-stitch-pattern

Etsy have loads of phrase patterns to choose from.

I found some Mexican day of the dead cross stitch kits while browsing on Pinterest, along with some Adventure Time ones
I think most of them were Etsy kits.

Have a look at Cross Stitcher magazine. It has some really good patterns & non-twee ideas. I have a great set of scrabble tile patterns from a previous edition that my DD really likes.

Also search on Pintrest for patterns for things you like.

www.crossstitchermag.com