Cross stitch

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

@Essjay - Fellow stitcher brain pick!

Have you ever made a pattern of your own?
Or have you ever used software to turn a photograph into a cross stitch pattern, by any chance? Or even a drawing?

I know the last time I tried, was using a free online programme to turn a photo of my friend's Greyhound into a pattern, but being a direct photo, and not having edited out the background either, it just meant the pattern and amount of floss colours needed to be overly detailed to get a decent view of the dog, most of which would have been background it would have been better off without... Or zooming out enough to make it a reasonable stitch to do within a year, but then far too pixilated to have that "this is your specific dog" personal touch anymore!

In that case, I found a gorgeous, geometric pattern of a Greyhound with similar colouring, and the modern art style and colours suited my friend's tastes too, so I wound up doing that instead, and didn't delve any further into pattern making, or turning specific photos into a stitch.


I've done some generic fish, bettas, koi, orcas etc from pre-made digital patterns on Etsy several times, as gifts and for my own enjoyment, but thinking of doing something much more specific now... at least, in the planning stages right now since I need an eye test and new glasses before I can get to stitching anyway!

So I'm in the early, brain picking stages of figuring out what to do, and as a fellow floss fan, have you made specific specific stitches for friends and had similar things to figure out?

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid I am useless at designing my own patterns, the furthest I've gone is changing purchased patters slightly.

I have seen websites which will create a pattern from a photo though I've not been tempted to try that. I think there were even ads for companies doing that in the Redicut catalogue in pre-internet days. Possibly the only way to cut the clutter of the background would be to edit the photo removing everything except the dog, then maybe use the pattern they create of just the dog but add a bit of background of your own design.


I know what you mean about needing glasses. Somehow I managed to complete a cross stitch (the robin one) in the weeks before I had cataract surgery. With hindsight I have no idea how I managed to stitch the background with white thread mixed with a strand of glitter thread onto white fabric - I hate unstitched aida fabric so I always fill those bits in . With the recently finished landscape I had to get another pair of glasses with a focal point nearer than my reading glasses.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm afraid I am useless at designing my own patterns, the furthest I've gone is changing purchased patters slightly.

I have seen websites which will create a pattern from a photo though I've not been tempted to try that. I think there were even ads for companies doing that in the Redicut catalogue in pre-internet days. Possibly the only way to cut the clutter of the background would be to edit the photo removing everything except the dog, then maybe use the pattern they create of just the dog but add a bit of background of your own design.

There are a lot of pattern makers on Etsy using free or more advanced software to covert an image of your choosing into a pattern, so definitely do able!

I know what you mean about needing glasses. Somehow I managed to complete a cross stitch (the robin one) in the weeks before I had cataract surgery. With hindsight I have no idea how I managed to stitch the background with white thread mixed with a strand of glitter thread onto white fabric - I hate unstitched aida fabric so I always fill those bits in . With the recently finished landscape I had to get another pair of glasses with a focal point nearer than my reading glasses.

It's definitely something I need to do, was meaning to book that eye appointment soon anyway! Long overdue.

Wasn't that long ago I was doing 2 over 2 on linen rather than aida, and 16/18ct patterns, but as eyesight got worse I was sticking to 14count aida. I like using black aida too, for the contrasting pop of colour, but even with using a smaller light to backlight to fabric and make finding the holes easier, I'm sure I'll find that much easier and more likely to pick up those projects again once I have an updated prescription and new glasses/contacts!

I'm "only" 41, but you know yourself the kind of detail stitching needs!

 

[Essjay]

I much prefer using 36 count linen to 18 count aida fabric, linen looks fine with unstitched areas. I have to admit I've never used black fabric, the only colours I've used are white and 'natural', that sort of very light beige colour. And it's a long time since I've used 14 count. The robin kit came with 14 count aida but I used some 18 count I had in the drawer.


When I was in my 20s I was told by an optician that I'd need reading glasses by the time I was 40 and he was right, I got my first pair in my late 30s and needed stronger and stronger lenses since then. My prescription has changed little since 2019 when I had the second cataract op though.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I much prefer using 36 count linen to 18 count aida fabric, linen looks fine with unstitched areas.

Can't beat linen for beauiful "finished" projects, especially for gifts!

I need to take new photos of my finished ones, soon. Last linen I did was a pair of cardinals on a pale blue linen as a gift for my dad.

My first project on black aida was a magazine pattern of the Northern Lights, so all those swirling, bright colours suited black aida as a night sky backdrop especially. So I've continued to enjoy using it for that contrast if the pattern is more dramatic, or colourful.

Only real downside is that on lighter fabric I use a fabric pen to do 10 by 10 grids, so I can catch it and not go too far off track if I'm using the "cross-country" method. Can't do that on black fabric, but have this guideline that's smooth like fishing line, so you can weave it through and create a grid that way, then slide the guidelines loose without risking the kind of damage to your finished stitches that normal cotton thread might cause.

If you decide you do want to give a dark fabric a try, I find it easier if I have a spotlight above, and something like a box lamp or angled light underneath the fabric, so the holes are much more visible.

The robin kit came with 14 count aida but I used some 18 count I had in the drawer.

It's a Bothy threads one, right? I recognise their pattern style!

I do find most of their patterns cute! I can't do fluffy birds (parents always used to point out fluffiness as a negative quality in bird images, after all "fluffy = sick" as they used to tell me, even though birds also fluff up while sleeping, preening, nesting etc! But generally, you know, staying fluffy is a worrying sign when you keep birds, as we did/do).

I've been tempted by their patterns of donkeys more than once though!

 

[Essjay]

It's a Bothy threads one, right? I recognise their pattern style!

Yes it is


I use coloured cotton to mark the grid on the fabric, I found some very cheap thread and use blue, green and yellow. I mark the fabric centres with black cotton, then use the cheap nasty cotton for every 10th row. I then use coloured biros to highlight the lines on the chart, using red ink instead of yellow. I did have red cotton but it left red fluff on the stitching while the other colours don't. You can see the cotton threads in the photo in post #11 and on the chart in post #12. That would also work on dark coloured fabric.
I do the cross county method as well which means I have to undo the threads while I work where the thread is under the fabric, then redo it when I've finished that bit. I can see it to push it out of the way where it's on top of the fabric. It may take longer with all that undoing and redoing but it works for me.

 

[FranciscoB]

Amazing work. You should be very proud (I am sure you are).