Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Designer Spotlight: Creative Enigma Store

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I feel like “Creative Enigma” is a pretty apt name for this Etsy shop, because it offers a selection of things that to me don’t completely make sense being in the same shop. Some designers stick to a theme or a particular aesthetic, and others just don’t, which is totally fine. Creative Enigma Store, to me anyway, fits in that second category. 

There are a selection of cross stitch minis (some of which might be good for the cross stitch magnets I shared the other day) and a large selection of patterns related to movies, TV shows and video games.

But there are also geometric designs and blackwork, adorable animals and even a couple of holiday patterns. For such a relatively small shop (fewer than 70 designs as of this writing) there’s a pretty big variety.

Since the movie, TV and video game section is the largest by far, I knew I needed to share one of those patterns. There are chibis of characters from The Walking Dead, plenty of horror movie characters and Forrest Gump on his park bench, to name a few. 

Being a X Files fan from way back, though, I had to share the “I Want to Believe” pattern. This one is 133 by 200 stitches and uses 18 colors. It has a sort of grainy look to it just like you’d expect from a picture of a UFO. Using 14 count fabric the design comes out to 9.5 by 14.3 inches, or 24.1 by 36.3 cm. Which makes it almost poster sized!

If you’re a fan of Chinese astrology you’ll find a cool set of zodiac animal patterns, which would be lovely to stitch up for a fan of that animal even if its not their zodiac sign.

Check out the fun variety of cross stitch patterns available from Creative Enigma Store on Etsy.

[Photo: Creative Enigma Shop]

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All About Stitching on Perforated Paper

I recently wrote a post on my blog about using a stitchable journal cover and I mentioned that you can make your own stitched cover for a journal by using perforated paper instead of buying a stitchable notebook.

I have to admit, though, that I’ve never used perforated paper for cross stitch myself. I definitely want to because I think it would be great to use for bookmarks that don’t fray and have a little more stability, for example.

Sirious Stitches has us covered, though, because they did a deep dive into all things perforated cross stitch pattern that is worth the time to read through.

The post mentions that a lot of people use perforated paper for cross stitch because they buy an ornament kit that uses it. I’ve never seen these (or at least never noticed that that is what they were) but it’s a great idea to make small projects like ornaments in this way. It also talks about the pros and cons of using cross stitch paper, where to buy it and how to make your own. 

Making it yourself is an awesome idea because if you already have a pattern in mind you can just make holes in your paper where you need stitches to be and leave the rest solid. This would be ideal for making greeting cards, for example.

In addition to kits and sheets you can often find the paper pre-cut into different shapes you can use to make your own designs, no real pattern required.

The post also includes tips and advice for how to stitch on perforated paper that you’ll want to check out before you try your first project.

I’m super intrigued by the idea of using perforated paper for cross stitch and will probably be trying it out soon. Have you used it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Check out the post over at Sirious Stitches for more information.

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]