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]

Most of the cross stitch projects I make are pretty small and not something I would consider heirloom quality (though I am working on a big project for my daughter that I hope to have done for her high school graduation in two years that I hope is something she’ll want to keep forever, but that’s another story).

But it is definitely possible to cross stitch projects that will stay around for generations, and one prime example of that is a cross-stitched linen tablecloth.

Linen tablecloths are classic, while stitching one can be a big project, depending on the size of your table, it doesn’t have to be really complicated.

Koekoek has a good, detailed post about figuring out how much linen you would need to make a tablecloth that you can cross stitch and/or embroider on (they also sell tablecloth linen in their shop if you don’t already have some or a linen tablecloth you already use). Of course for a project like this you’d want the best fabric you can find and afford, because you’ll be stitching it for a long time and hopefully using it for years.

The post walks through how to measure your table and determine how much fabric you’ll need including the drop you’ll want and hems. It includes the math for rectangular and square tables as well as circular tables, which helps take the guesswork out of buying fabric. It also talks about preparing the fabric and making mitered corners if you have a square or rectangular table, which will help the tablecloth sit nicely on your table.

The tutorial doesn’t include specific patterns to use for your tablecloth, but it does advise keeping it simple because this is a really big project. You can start with a motif in the center or doing borders, and this is a project you can add to through the years by, say, stitching a symbol for each family member or adding names, wedding dates, etc. and making it a real record of your family.

Would you ever cross stitch a tablecloth or have you done so? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Koekoek]

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