We’ve made loads of guides on how to make cross stitch patterns, how to make video game cross stitch patterns and even how to make free pokemon cross stitch patterns, however we always stay away from what makes a pattern PERFECT.
Now, perfect is clearly in the eye of the beholder, and without a doubt, you’ll have your own preferences, but there are a few things that will help you in making sure perfect is achievable for you.

Story

Story. Story. Story. I can’t say it enough. It’s the thing that changes the pattern the most. A standard sprite, for example, is a nice pattern, but to see the sprite interacting with a background, or posing the sprite in a special way; that’s what makes the difference.
The Pidgey’s below are both sprites from the first games, however the first has a custom background. Now, which looks best?

Devil In The Detail

Details are important and are normally the first thing people see when looking at a piece. In the below Portal pixel art patterns, you can see small dots by the eyes. Whilst these could all be the same, the fact that each is detailed to that point goes to show how much more different they each are, and when placed next to each other really show up those differences.

Outside Line

In video game cross stitch in particular, the sprite is likely to come with a big black border. Now, whilst this is fine, and can be used as a feature, like most of my own work, the black line can detract from the sprite itself. Instead a very dark version of the color next to it can make a nice contrast to the sprite and make it pop more.

Shading

Somewhat connected to the outside lines, the shading makes a massive difference to a piece. A heavily looked over area of pattern making is the color picking. Instead of choosing the standard sprite images, which were made to go on a white background, consider darkening them when putting them in a shaded area, or on black/dark aida. Pikachu in the example below is in a dark area, with a dark aida, so has his colors changed to suit.

Top Stitch

Every good cross stitcher knows that you need to ensure the top stitch is always the same direction so that the top stitch doesn’t stand out. Well, what if you WANT something to stand out? Now there are two ways to achieve this. The first is which orientation you want the top stitch; if you have something of interest in one corner then you want to have the top stitch oriented to point towards it (your eye naturally follows the top stitch).
The second way to utilize this is to change the orientation of the item of interest, and thus bring your eyes to it.
What I will say is this works so much better in person that through images, but its definitely something to consider.

Signature

Last, of all, there’s the signature. You may not sign your works, but if you do, consider its placement.
You see a lot of people adding the signature to the bottom right just outside of the piece, however, every other kind of artist does it *inside* the corner. Why not follow suit?
Alternatively, there is the Japanese approach of signing on the top corner, bringing attention to the well thought out signature of the artist.
Or what about an inverse colored name seal?

These are just a few ideas to help you make a pattern, a superb pattern.
Big thanks to our Pokemon & Portal friends for a helping hand.