Designing a cross stitch pattern, or just getting more out of one you’ve bought, comes with its own set of skills separate from the stitching itself. This guide pulls together everything on the site about making, editing, buying, and working with patterns.
Every post tagged below covers some part of this topic, newest first. If you want a specific answer right away, start with the sections below.
You don’t need expensive software to get started designing your own patterns, though it helps once you’re serious about it.
How do I make cross stitch patterns is the place to start, and how to make your own cross stitch patterns without online tools is worth reading if you’d rather not rely on software at all. For a specific and popular project type, cross stitch portraits from photos covers turning a photo into a pattern.
A pattern rarely comes out right on the first attempt, whether you’re designing your own or adapting someone else’s. Small changes can make a big difference to how the finished piece looks.
Changing colors on a cross stitch pattern covers one of the most common edits, and how to make a cross stitch pattern perfect and what makes a perfect cross stitch pattern both dig into what separates a good pattern from a great one. Clever tricks to make cross stitch patterns pop rounds out the finishing touches.
Not every pattern for sale online is worth your money, and not every pattern is legally yours to stitch and share. Both are worth checking before you buy.
How to make sure you buy a quality cross stitch pattern covers the practical side, and how to make sure you buy a cross stitch pattern that isn’t copyrighted covers the side people think about far less often than they should.
Pattern size brings its own challenges at both extremes, whether you’re taking on something enormous or working at a scale that barely leaves room for a single stitch.
How to tackle epic cross stitch patterns covers the largest projects, and mini cross stitch designs covers the opposite end of the scale.
A growing pattern collection needs a system, otherwise you’ll end up buying the same pattern twice or losing track of what you actually own.
How to organize your cross stitch patterns covers the practical side of keeping a pattern collection under control.
With our recent small cross stitch alphabet book out, and over 50 free cross stitch alphabets, many people have asked me how to go about finding the right size alphabet for their project. It's an interesting question; when the question is no longer "which font looks nice" and is instead "which size will actually work…
I'm no stranger to disappearing cross stitch alphabets. As time goes on, more and more cross stitch patterns disappear, and it bothers me! Cross stitch samplers are a major part of our history; from missing letters to museum pieces. Now, many of you know me for my collection of free cross stitch alphabets, but what…
I do not doubt that historic cross stitch patterns are being deleted from the internet, but at the same time, the quality is tanking too. Ironically, one of the main reasons for this is the abundance of portals that cross stitch designers can use to sell patterns. This should, therefore, suggest that curated patterns are…
About a month ago we spoke about why cross stitch alphabets are so hard to come by, and it got me thinking; that it really isn't only alphabet patterns that are harder to come by now. Back when I started cross stitch, there were literally hundreds of cross stitch websites offering thousands of free cross…