Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

A Fall Tree to Stitch, and a Tutorial on Making Your Own Patterns

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fall tree cross stitch

This fall tree cross stitch pattern from Ugly Duckling House is so pretty. And there’s a good reason it has such detail: because it was designed from a photograph.

In addition to having a free download of the pattern (you must sign up for emails to get it) there’s a nice tutorial on how she makes her own cross stitch patterns from photos.

She uses a website called pic2pat, which is a really simple site that does a great job of turning photos into boxes and matching the colors to DMC floss options. She talks about how she uses the program and compares thread colors to the photograph to ensure as close to reality as possible.

I don’t know about you, but now I want to make my own realistic cross stitch patterns from photos.

Or at least stitch this great tree.

[Photo: Ugly Duckling House.]

Looking for more Fall-themed Cross-stitch patterns and charts? Check these out on Etsy.

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Stitch Up Tons of Cute Patterns with The Pattern Club

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club. 

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine. 

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow. 

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. 

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage. 

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list. 

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns. 

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!