Designer Spotlight: Bombastitch

If you like your cross stitch patterns full of pop culture references, you’re going to want to pay a visit to Bombastitch’s Etsy shop. This shop based in Indiana specializes in patterns pulled from TV and movies, and with a side of snark to boot.

What’s not to love?

Since I mention it, let’s take a look at the movie/TV section, which has everything from the Eye of Sauron to the Blues Brothers. Star Wars, Dexter and The Princess Bride, to name a few.

And since it’s almost Valentine’s Day as I write this, let’s look at that Princess Bride pattern, which says “Wuv, Twoo Wuv” in honor of the priest with the weird accent who “marries” Buttercup and Humperdink. The pattern is worked in three colors and measures 63 by 60 stitches. That’s about 4.5 by 4.25 inches on 14 count fabric, or 11.4 by 10.8 cm.

There’s also a bunch of stitched portraits of famous characters, including Steve Martin from “The Jerk,” Walter White from “Breaking Bad” and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and David Tennant and the 10th Doctor, to name a few.

You’ll also find a collection of seasonal Godzilla patterns, a bunch of sugar skulls, and some sarcastic word art, including such gems as what’s up chicken butt (with a rooster stitched on as well) and no worry beef curry.

There are a couple of state outlines with the word love in them, but I don’t know if this is a project that’s ongoing or abandoned. If you happen to be from Texas or Indiana, though, you’re in luck.

How about some anatomically correct cross stitch patterns? As of this writing there’s a heart, a set of lungs, a brain, a skull and facial muscles.

And that’s not even everything! But if this hodgepodge of design shoutouts has piqued your interest, check out Bombastitch on Etsy. If you stitch up one of their patterns, I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Bombastitch]

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Designer Spotlight: Stitch Riot Designs

One of the most common problems that cross stitchers at all skill levels have is that the cross stitch fabric can start fraying while you stitch.

Beginner cross stitchers might wonder why this happens and if there is something they are doing wrong to cause it.

The reason cross stitch fabric frays is because it is a woven fabric, and the nature of any kind of woven fabric (whether that’s cross stitch fabric, a torn up towel or a piece of fabric you’re going to sew) is that it wants to fray.

It’s not necessarily a huge deal if you cross stitch fabric starts fraying mid-project if you have left a lot of extra fabric around your stitching. But if there’s not much fabric to spare in order to be able to finish the project the way you want, you’ll want to do something to stop the fraying.

When I was growing up I remember my mom using masking tape for this purpose, but it turns out there are lots of different things that you can do to stop your cross stitch fabric from fraying.

Craft with Cartwright came up with 15 different things that you can try, which seems like a lot, but that just means you have lots of different things you can try.

If you don’t want to buy something, you can stitch along the edges. If you already have supplies like tape or glue, or access to pinking shears or a serger, there are lots of options you can try.

Some of these are more permanent than others, so it will depend a little bit on how you want to finish your cross stitch project as to which is the best choice for you. It’s a great idea to read through the whole list just so you can have them in the back of yoru mind the next time you start a project and think about how you would like to protect it.

You can find the whole list at Craft with Cartwright.

How do you like to stop fraying on your cross stitch projects? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo: Craft with Cartwright]

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