I was looking through the free cross stitch patterns at DMC the other day (always a worth use of time because they’ve got some great stuff!) and I came across this set of patterns that are tiny representations of famous works of art.
First there’s The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, which will use lots of your yellow thread and give you a lot of practice back stitching. The design is 77 by 50 stitches and uses 17 colors. There are five different colors of French knots and five colors of backstitch (one of which is not already used in the cross stitching itself).
On 14 count fabric the design comes out to 3.5 by 5.5 inches, or 9 by 14 cm. On the model some of the French knots looked like beads to me, which would also be a fun addition.
Then there’s Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. This one uses 20 colors and includes some backstitching, but just a single color on this one. The design is 55 by 69 stitches, which comes out to 5.1 by 4 inches stitched on 14 count fabric (that’s 13 by 10 cm). The pattern page for this one shows it stitches on a little zip topped bag, which sounds like a lot of work if the bag was made before it was stitched on, but it’s still really pretty.
Finally there is a cross stitched version of The Scream by Edvard Munch (I’d like this one on a bag for period products, LOL). This one is 66 by 50 stitches and calls for 17 colors. There are French knots in one color and back stitch in four colors, all of which are already used in the design.
On 14 count fabric this one would be 3.5 by 4.7 inches, or 9 by 12 cm.
You can always make them bigger by using a fabric with a smaller count, or just keep them little! They’re all rated as intermediate cross stitch patterns, but being allover stitching (and often lots of finishing details) you definitely want a few bigger projects under your belt before you try these.
[Photo: DMC]
