|
Choosing a Cross Stitch Pattern or Kit
If this is
your first cross stitch project, I suggest buying a small kit. Kits come with all
the necessary materials (fabric, floss, needle, etc.) other than a
hoop. Most kits also include some basic cross stitch instructions. Kits
come in varying degrees of difficulty. There are even kits
designed especially for kids
and beginners by
Dimensions and
Permin. Some of my favorite kits
come from
Dimensions,
Permin of Copenhagen,
Eva
Rosenstand and
Heritage Stitchcraft.
For more
experienced cross stitchers, pick out your own pattern and fabric for a
more unique piece. There are many, many, many different cross
stitch pattern
designers to choose from. Patterns come in varying degrees of
difficulty, and are often labeled as such.
There are
various methods for keeping track of where you are on your pattern or
chart.
Some people use a highlighter and mark off the section they are
stitching on their pattern as they go along. Some chose to laminate
their pattern before beginning and use an erasable marker to mark of
the areas they have already stitched. More experienced stitchers
generally just “eyeball” their work and know where they left off.
Some of my favorite cross stitch designs are by
Mirabilia,
Lavender and Lace,
Passione Ricamo,
Pinn, and
Butternut Road.
Mirabilia
patterns are designed by an artist named Nora Corbett in Ohio.
She creates original water color paintings and turns them into cross
stitch patterns. Her subjects are generally angels, mermaids,
queens, fairies, mothers and lovers along with timeless women.
Mirabilia is one of my favorite line of patterns. They are
generally quality pattern that often use beading and metallic threads to
highlight the design. I carry all of the Mirabilia patterns that
are available at Julie's X Stitch.
If you are into collecting, Mirabilia makes a line of "Holiday Fairie"
kits that include fabric and all the supplies you will need to complete
the project including quality linen fabric. She also has a line of "Christmas Trees" every year
for Christmas that include all the beads and treasures you will need to
complete the piece.
Mirabilia's newest
pattern is "Athena, Goddess of Wisdom (MD97)". (released August 15,
2008.)
Some of my favorites are:
"Christmas Flourishes",
"Midsummer Nights Fairy",
"Sleeping Beauty",
"Shimmering Mermaid",
"Enchanted Mermaid", We have some great news.
We are happy to announce that Mirabilia is back in business! I
try to keep all of the Mirabilia, Lavender and Lace and Passione Ricamo
patterns in stock, so they generally ship immediately.
Told in
a Garden,
Lavender
and Lace and
Butternut Road patterns are designed by an artist named Marilyn
Levitt-Imblum who lives in Main. The Lavender and Lace
patterns are some of my favorites. The inspiration for many of her
designs came from living in the country near many Amish families.
Her designs include many angels, brides, traditional women, Native
Americans, Christmas themes and the Amish. Her patterns are classy
and turn out lovely. Some of my favorites are "The
Wedding", "Angel
of Grace", "Celtic
Christmas", and the whole
Celtic
Series. All of these patterns are available in kits as well.
Kustom Krafts started creating cross stitch patterns in 1999 in a
small Northern Ontario, Canadian town. Dyan Allaire was very interested
in fantasy and wild animal themes, which inspired her to create her own
cross stitch charts. Kustom Krafts charts are very colorful
and life like. They have a wide range of patterns to choose
from. We have 150 of their pattern on our site and add more every
time they release a new design. Some of their most recent patterns
are: "Beautiful
Dreamer", "Allegory
of Painting", "Miracle",
and "Santa's
Piggybank Kit".
Heaven and Earth Designs was created by Michele Sayetta and her
husband Bob. They previously owned a hand dyed fabric shop, but
decided to switch to cross stitch patterns. They chart the artwork
of many talented designers into counted cross stitch designs.
Their designs are not computer generated. They graph each image
using engineering software Their designs are very intricate.
They suggest you stitch them on 25 count Lugana or Dublin over one to
preserve the detail. Their designs have a "fantasy" feel to them.
Some of my favorite designs by Heaven and Earth are "Queen
of Hearts" ,
"Spirit of Winter" , and
"Cinderella's Ball".
Glendon Place is a cross stitch pattern company started by a great
lady name Cheryl Granda. She lives in Florida with her husband and
dogs. Her favorite past times when she was a child were art and
sewing. Her grandmother taught her to sew, as mine did.
Cheryl has been designing cross stitch patterns for over 2 years now.
She has many themes that focus on the holidays. Some of her
greats are
"We Three Kings" (on sale $12.99),
"Sociable Scarecrow" (on sale $10.99), "Witching
it was Halloween" (on sale $10), and her newest is "Santa's
North Pole" ( on sale for $17.75).
Pinn
Stitch Art and Technology, Inc. is another great designer.
They are a company in Chiang
Mai, Thailand that has been in business since 1992. They do mostly
classical Thai and unique Oriental designs in cross stitch. They
are some of my favorite patterns. Very colorful and beautiful.
Some of their designs are "Two
Thai Dancers", "Thai
Parasol Paintings", and "Loy
Krathong". All Pinn patterns and kits are sold at a discount
from the retail price.
Mar-nic
designs is owned and operated by Maria E.
Cipp. She lives in the picturesque city of Waterloo, Ontario. This area
of Canada is steeped in a rich multicultural heritage. Her cross stitch
designs are inspired by the abundant world around her. Her home is shared
by her husband Nick, Doran and Aaron, her sons, and her canine,
Spencer the Boxer.
Cross
Eye Kat is owned by
Kat who loves crafts
and taught herself cross stitch at a young age. She created her first
original design for Latin class in middle school. She has been
designing original needleart for her company, Cross Eyed Kat since 2004.
I like her designs "Post
Modern Cats", and "Post
Modern Dogs".
Imaginating and From the Powder Mill. Our company was established in
1979 by my former partner, Marilyn Clark, and myself. We began in our
homes and graduated to more and more space. Marilyn retired a number of
years ago, but still designs a few pieces each year. Some of her most
popular pieces were those that had words and paper clips (Rules of the
Office). We began our company with needlepoint patterns and now have
cross stitch, embroidery and a quilt line. (from
Imaginating's website) Their designs are very whimsical.
I like "Candy
Cane Christmas", and "Bubble
Your Troubles".
Art-Stitch specializes in uinque counted cross stitch and
needlepoint designs in the art nouveau, arts & crafts, and art deco
styles. Inspiration for my designs comes from countless artistic sources
from the turn of the century through the 1930s, including poster art,
stained glass, tilework and ceramics, book illustrations, jewelry and
architecture. I have been an avid stitcher for many years, and for just
as long have loved art of this period. But, to my disappointment, it's
never been easy to find needlework patterns with turn of the century
themes. So, I decided to change that, and Art-stitch was born. (excerpt
taken from Art Stitch website). Some of my favorite pattern from
Art-Stitch are, "Chat
Noir", "Feline
Queen" and "Noel".
The
Sampler
House was started by Eileen Bennett, designer, teacher, author
of needlework books and patterns based on historic samplers. My retail
needlework shop, located in Grandville, Michigan, closed in 1986 when my
design career began. "Home Is Where You Hang Your Needlework" was my
first charted design and commercial endeavor. Since then, over 100
sampler designs and related accessory items have been created by me for
the retail market. Most of The
Sampler House designs use a variety of old sampler stitches and
from these designs came four books of stitch diagrams. (excerpt
taken from Sampler House website). "The
Flowers of the Field" is one of my favorite samplers by Eileen.
Bobbie
G. Designs evolved from my love of art, color and a passion for
stitching. I began by designing for cross stitch magazines and
transitioned over to designing, manufacturing and distributing my own
cross stitch kits, charts and quilt patterns. The business has grown
steadily as I continue to do what I love doing.
My daughter and I work hard to produce a great
product that you will enjoy. (taken from the Bobbie G. Designs website)
Some of my favorite designs by Bobbie G. are "Jolly
Ole St. Nicks", and "Coffee".
Images
stitchery design is a family-run business that has been
designing stitchery patterns for the past 30 years and specialty frames
for the past 16 years. We are located in beautiful downtown Mineral
Point, Wisconsin just 45 minutes west of Madison. Our designs are
compositions by Wayne Banaszak, whose love of architecture and nature
are demonstrated just beautifully in his pictures of historical
landmarks, samplers, and novelty subjects. Using multiple stitching
techniques, Wayne "paints" a picture with a variety of fibers and
fabrics. (taken from the Images website)
Nancy
Spruance Designs. Victorian
House Designs for Counted Cross Stitch
We hope you will enjoy browsing in our
gallery of finely detailed Victorian house designs in the
California Northcoast Collection
and Victorian America Collection.
These cross stitch designs are all faithful reproductions of the houses
that inspired them, and houses in both collections are listed in the
National Register of Historic Places. (take from the Nancy
Spruance front page). Some of my favorites are
The Abbey,
Carson Mansion, and the newest is
Country Victorian Cottage.
Character Creations. Before starting Character Creations, I
was working in an embroidery and patchwork shop. While there I did
several private commissions creating cross stitch designs from personal
photographs using computer charting software.
The success of these lead to me starting out as an independent designer.
My first charts were created from personal photographs and she later
moved on to using art in the public domain. After deciding to
concentrate on designing full time, I contacted a number of artists both
in New Zealand and overseas, gaining the licence to chart their artwork.
(taken from Character Creations website).
Debbie
Draper Designs. I have always wanted to design [cross stitch
patterns] and for many
years I took liberties with designs, changing up the design and/or the
colors. Then one day shortly after being introduced to Vikki Clayton’s
silk floss by a wonderful friend and designer, Mary of Ozark Sampler, I
thought I would try my hand at designing. I was inspired by Vikki’s
silk colors and came up with my first three designs. They are simple
enough for the beginner and even the more advanced stitcher will find
them fun to work up. (taken from Debbie Draper's website). Debbie
Drapers designs include many felines and silhouette patterns.
Country
Garden Stitchery. I
began cross stitching when my children were tiny and I would stitch
while they took naps and at night time. I started stitching on stamped
fabric as I wasn't confident to do counted cross stitch yet! I also
discovered I enjoyed drawing about the same time. My husband and I would
take the kids out into the desert to explore and I would draw the old
rock houses, old structures, old gnarly trees and whatever else I could
find. I decided to try my hand at designing my own patterns, putting my
drawing interest with the cross stitch interest. (from Country Garden
Stitcheries website). Her newest design is called "Lady
Scarecrow".
|
