Designer Spotlight: Niche Stitches

Niche Stitches is a United States based Etsy shop that sells, by its own description, “bookish and modern cross stitch patterns.” You’ll also find patterns related to video games, movies, and more.

There is definitely a fantasy focus when it comes to these patterns, with several designs based on characters and quotes from the A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series, both of which are by Sarah J. Maas. You’ll also find dragons, a magic rabbit and more designs.

In the video gaming section there are patterns with game controllers and designs from Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing New Horizons.

The designs that really caught my eye were the seasonal ones, because they are heavy on designs inspired by The Muppet Christmas Carol. Here’s one of my favorites, a pair with Gonzo as the narrator and Rizzo as Tiny Tim telling us why they are in the story.

This one is set up as two separate patterns, with Gonzo measuring 106 by 153 stitches, which comes out to about 7.6 by 10.9 inches, or 19.3 by 27.7 cm on 14 count fabric. His design uses 15 colors. Rizzo is 93 by 137 stitches, or 6.6 by 9.8 inches/16.8 by 24.9 cm on 14 count fabric, and it also uses 15 colors. These might be a little big to hang on the tree but you could hang them next to each other on the wall.

There are also a few Halloween patterns and a section of animal cross stitch patterns, most of which are birds, with an elephant and giraffe thrown in.

This is a great shop to visit if you’re into fantasy books and cross stitch, but there are some great designs even if you’re not into that genre. Check out Niche Stitches on Etsy, and be sure to let me know if you have a favorite cross stitch designer I haven’t featured yet!

[Photo: Niche Stitches]

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Stardew Valley Cross Stitch Patterns

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]

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