Designer Spotlight: Notforgotten Farm

Notforgotten Farm is an Etsy shop dedicated to primitive needlework patterns and supplies. Based in Virginia, the shop has patterns for counted and uncounted cross stitch, embroidery, punch needle and appliques, as well as a couple of hand-sewing patterns. They also sell wooden notions such as spool caddies and needle boxes, and embroidery hoops.

But we’re here to talk about cross stitch so let’s get into it.

To start with, if you’re wondering at the difference between counted and uncounted cross stitch, an uncounted design is transferred x by x onto the linen or other fabric that you’re going to stitch on. That way when you’re stitching you don’t have to do any counting.

As an example of what the finished project looks likes, check out their Mary’s Wild Ride design. I think it adds a bit to the primitive charm and immediately makes these projects look older than they are because they’re not as even and perfect as projects made with counted cross stitch fabric.

When it comes to counted cross stitch patterns, Notforgotten Farm has a lot of patterns inspired by classic samplers, lots of patterns with animals and rather a witchy vibe. Some patterns are PDFs and some are paper patterns, so keep an eye on that while you are shopping.

For example the project shown above, Tea Time, is a printed pattern. It’s worked on 18 count fabric and is 55 by 70 stitches. There’s something about this lady I really like, and she’d be fun to stitch up and hang in your kitchen.

I also have to share this cat on the moon cross stitch pattern (because you know I love cats!), which is just so funny and I love the way it’s been styled into a bag. (Note this one has text about being a printed pattern but it’s actually digital.)

If you like primitive patterns with Halloween vibes all year long, check out Notforgotten Farm on Etsy!

[Photo: Notforgotten Farm]

I don’t usually cross stitch text or add words to my cross stitch projects. Sometimes I will sign things using basic block lettering worked in backstitch (luckily my initials are pretty easy to stitch), but if you give your cross stitch as a gift or otherwise want to personalize it, adding text is a great way to go.

But if a project didn’t already come with text, and you don’t want to draw your own, you’ll need a good cross stitch font that you can use for your project.

I like collecting fonts that are easy to read and to stitch and that would be good for lots of different uses.

For example I really like this bold alphabet font from Cross Stitch with Art, which has both capital and lowercase letters as well as numbers if you need them for dates or other information on your design. The capital letters are an inch/2.5 cm/14 stitches tall, which makes it easy to figure out how much space you need to leave for them. It’s a nice, basic, readable serif font you can use for lots of project.

If you want a script font that’s still really readable, check out Magic Calligraphy from Soft Pattern Designs. This hand drawn font has upper case letters around 28 stitches tall, with lower case letters mostly being around 20 stitches (though the ones that go up or down a lot like f, p and y are bigger). The numbers also vary a bit in size but range from 25 to 29 stitches.

Sometimes you just want a classic font that looks like sports lettering, and in that case you’re going to need Varsity, an all caps font from Stitch Mod. This one has letters that are 21 stitches tall, and it includes capital letters and numbers. But there are definitely times this one would come in handy!

Another sometimes useful and really cute font is this alphabet block letters alphabet from Stitch Junction. These letters are all upper case and look like classic building blocks, and there are also numbers available. This one would be perfect for a birth announcement project or some other cross stitch for the baby’s room.

And if that’s not enough for you, check out this post with 85 free cross stitch fonts for you to try!

Have you read?