Designer Spotlight: So Easy Pattern

So Easy Pattern is an Etsy storefront that has both cross stitch patterns and machine embroidery patterns. There’s plenty of snark but also cute stuff, landscapes, holiday patterns and more. Let’s check it out!

The biggest category in the shop is funny cross stitch, which covers everything from those snarky projects I just mentioned to a sampler of icons and phrases from the TV show Friends, feminist slogans and more.

Since I generally share a pattern from the biggest category I picked this one about smiling while you still have teeth, which is frankly pretty good advice. This design is 131 by 125 stitches, and uses 10 colors. It comes out to 9.36 by 8.93 inches, or 23.77 by 22.68 cm on 14 count fabric.

The next biggest section is holiday, which is almost entirely Christmas cross stitch patterns, with a couple of Halloween ones thrown in. As a knitter I love the Christmas sweater series you’ll find here, which are small enough to be used as holiday ornaments if you want (I would want).

Next up is nature cross stitch, which is full of full-coverage designs that include mountains, trees, the beach, the moon, that kind of thing.

If those look too complex for you, check out the beginner cross stitch section, which is mostly patterns with text (exclusively or with simple flowers).

In addition to all those categories, you’ll also find animals, patterns for baby and weddings, florals, letters, wreaths, anatomical designs (these are things like hearts, lungs and uteruses with flowers blooming out of them) and bookmarks.

And if you happen to also be into machine embroidery, as of this writing the shop has more than 100 embroidery machine patterns, ranging from seasonal stuff to snarky birthday greetings, images from TV shows and a range of cute rainbows to use on different projects.

Check out all the offerings from this fun shop over at So Easy Pattern.

[Photo: So Easy Pattern]

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

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