Cross stitch - How to design your own embroidery patterns

Cross Stitch - Design Patterns

As you learn to cross-stitch with more skill and precision, you often find that you would like to cross-stitch something unique or something you can't find a pattern for. Faced with this challenge, you have one of two options: you can give up or you can create your own pattern! Creating your own pattern is not that difficult and can give you an incredible sense of accomplishment when you finish stitching your cross stitch design.

Designing your own cross stitch pattern will give you the freedom to create virtually any design you desire. It will also allow you to cross-stitch your favorite photos and other memories.

Materials needed for cross stitch

To draw your cross stitch pattern, you'll need to collect the following items: graph paper, a sharp pencil, a good eraser, colored pencils, and possibly a floss color chart from your favorite floss maker.

You can find good pencils and erasers at the art supply store. You can even find them in the office supply section of your local pharmacy. You should use a very sharp pencil and a good eraser that will clearly remove pencil marks and not fade them on the paper.

The rubberized shape of the tires used by the tires is perfect for this. Graph paper can also be found in the same places, or you can print it from your computer using Excel or a website. You will want your graph paper to be at least eight squares per inch.

After drawing your design, we recommend that you blend it using colored pencils and the thread color guide. This will allow you to have a list of thread colors to purchase at your craft store to sew your design on.

The easiest way to manage the size of your final design is to use graph paper with the same number of squares as your cross-stitch fabric. Using 16 count fabrics, if you draw on graph paper at 16 squares per inch, your design and your final sewing project will be exactly the same size. It is very, very important to consider the final size of your project when designing.

Look, in this video of MYA Handmade, how to make your cross stitch patterns:

making your drawing

To create your first cross stitch pattern, you should start by drawing your design, and for the most part, ignore the lines on the graph paper. Once your design is complete, you will need some time to make your cross stitch design. To do this, you'll work to frame the rounded edges and mark the areas where you'll need to do partial seams and all seams to complete your project.

If you want your design to have a three-dimensional look, we recommend adding a simple shading. Do this by imagining a light source and where the shadows would be on the page if the light source were shining on your drawing. This takes some time to get excited about, but it can really help make your designs look more realistic.

When the shading is complete, you can color your drawing with your colored pencils. This will allow you to "see" your final design and decide exactly what colors you want to use. This is where the line guide comes into play; you'll use it to match your design and create a list of themes to buy for your project.

Designing your own cross stitch embroidery patterns can be very rewarding. It's not simple and takes some time to master, but it allows you to sew anything you can imagine. You can create the perfect look on paper, then bring it to life on fabric. The only limit is your mind. Get inspired!