Cross Stitch a Masterpiece with DMC

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]

I feel like I’ve written a lot about French knots, probably because they are one of those things that’s pretty common in cross stitch but also that give some stitchers problems. So let’s take another look at how to make French knots and why you might be having trouble.

This information comes from a great blog post from Caterpillar Cross Stitch, which notes that a lot of the success of your French knots depends on what you do before you actually make the knot.

It talks about what kinds of needles are best for making French knots (hint: not regular embroidery needles because the eye is bigger than the shaft of the needle, which makes it hard to get even tension), what other supplies you’ll need and how to cut your thread to make it easier.

It also covers how to actually go about making a French knot and some of the problems you might encounter along the way and how to fix them. This is things like your knots ending up on the back of your work, sizing issues, tension issues, having trouble pulling the thread through and more.

You’ll also find a discussion of the colonial knot as an alternative to the French knot (I’ve written about that one, too), which some stitchers find easier and it looks virtually the same as a French knot. And if you want to avoid knots altogether there are also some ideas for what to use instead.

Check out their post at Caterpillar Cross Stitch, and you’ll probably learn some things you didn’t know about French knots.

Pair it with my post at Our Daily Craft all about French knots, which is a little bit more about embroidery than cross stitch, but does have a handy chart showing knots of different twist numbers made with different numbers of thread, which I at least think is interesting.

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

Have you read?