Designer Spotlight: Knotty Bytes

There’s not much to say about Etsy seller Knotty yites other than if you like pop culture cross stitch patterns this is the place for you. It’s pretty much all they do, and there’s a wide range of fandoms and characters represented.

I first learned about this shop when I was doing Only Murders in the Building cross stitch patterns, and if you like that one the rest of their patterns are similar in vibe. They feature little characters in a lineup, sometimes labeled with the name of the show/movie they are from or with other text.

There’s everything from She-Ra to Ghostbusters, Lost to Xena, Game of Thrones to the MCU. While lots of the designs only cover a few characters, there are some larger ones as well.

Like this “space superhero” alphabet full of characters (and one spaceship!) from the Star Wars universe. The full design is 196 by 272 stitches and uses 81-86 colors (the range being because there are actually two alphabets with some different characters to choose from, or mix and match your favorites).

If you’ve ever wanted to stitch up Katniss and the mockingjay pin, an homage to Cersei Lannister or Jem and the Holograms, this shop has got you covered. Or you can try the X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy or characters from the video game Mass Effect.

Like I said, there’s a wide variety.

If this sounds like the kind of shop you would like, check out all the options at Knotty Bytes. I’d love to hear if you make something from this shop (or if you have already!).

Know a designer who should be in the spotlight? Or are you a designer who wants to share your store? Leave a comment or fill out the form you get when you click on “suggest a craft” at the top of the page.

[Photo: Knotty Bytes]

I’ve done embroidery on paper before and it’s a lot of fun. You can use a needle to punch out a particular shape to stitch, or my favorite thing is to take a copy of an old photograph or a page from a magazine and add stitched details to the original picture.

One thing I haven’t tried but would also be fun to do is cross stitching on paper.

This is a technique that requires a fair amount of preparation because you need to find a pattern you can easily transfer and print it at actual size, then use the pattern itself to help you decide where to put the holes in your paper. And then after all that you can do your stitching.

It’s a pretty straightforward process, but Crewel Ghoul has a great tutorial that walks you through how to do it step by step. It even includes a sample pattern you can print out and try for practice.

The post also has tips for starting and finishing your threads so that the back looks as neat as it can, if that’s something that’s important to you. (When I have done embroidery on paper I usually just tape the thread end to the back. If the back were going to show I’d probably just cover it with more paper.)

Stitching on paper is a fun way to make bookmarks or greeting cards, but you also need to make sure your paper is thick enough to support the holes you’ll be making in it. This post has a good rundown of materials you’ll need and what kind of paper is best. She used watercolor paper but I’ve used card stock and scrapbook paper that was a little thicker than the average printer paper.

You can always test a little on the paper you’re considering to make sure it will stand up to the project.

Check out the post, which includes a video, over at Crewel Ghoul for more tips for cross stitching on paper. Is this something you’ve tried before? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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