Designer Spotlight: StitchxFinch

I generally don’t share Etsy shops that are as small as this one — it only has 24 patterns as I write this — but I did want to share it just because there’s a story behind it for me.

When I came across this shop in my scrolling, I saw this pattern for a little bird dressed like a cowboy. This caught my eye because it’s a finch that looks sort of like a character from the app Finch.

If you don’t know about Finch, it’s a self-care app where you set up different tasks that you do for yourself (the baseline is literally surviving the day, but also things like brushing teeth, making your bed, etc.) and as you do more things your little finch avatar grows and you can give it outfits and toys and it goes on adventures and it’s adorable. It also really helps people who struggle with mental health and doing the basic things, because it feels like you’re taking care of something else instead of just taking care of yourself.

Anyway, this little guy is 50 by 50 stitches, and comes out to 3.57 inches or 9.07 cm on 14 count fabric. And it’s a pretty good example of the style of the patterns StitchxFinch does.

There are cute little frogs and cats and a cow getting abducted by aliens. There are adorable little animals wielding knives for some reason. A flying pig. Anne of Green Gables. The Grim Reaper watering a plant. There’s a whole range of designs even with this small selection, but the vast majority of them involve little animals in some way.

If you like this style of cute little critters, check out StitchxFinch on Etsy. And especially if you or someone you know uses the app Finch, does this little one remind you of that?

[Photo: StitchxFinch]

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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