Designer Spotlight: Stonelane 1827

Animals, mythology and floral designs dominate the offerings from UK-based Etsy shop Stonelane 1827.

The shop just has one category for cross stitch patterns (it also sells a few T-shirts and has one candle and one latch hook pattern as of this writing) so you’ll have to take some time to scroll through and see what is there.

As I did that I found a lot of ghosts doing things like reading a book to a cat, holding a muffin, being dressed as a mushroom or in a classic D&D character classification (like wizard, bard or fighter). There are other D&D related designs as well.

There’s a series of different animals done in Chinoiserie style, including this cute little hedgehog. The design uses 8 colors of blue, gray and white to give a classic china feel. It measures 150 by 146 stitches and it’s suggested to be worked on 14 count fabric. That would come out to about 10.7 by 10.4 inches or 27.2 by 26.4 cm.

If you like that style there’s also a fox, owl, reindeer and bird done in a similar fashion.

There are also a fair number of chibi patterns for things like a super cute Cerberus, a racoon in overalls holding a balloon, a few axolotl patterns, a red panda eating noodles and a pug in glasses reading a book, among other things.

Some designs are more realistic, such as a window box full of flowers (actually there are several floral designs that are more realistic in style), a robin and a butterfly to name a few. There are Japanese-inspired patterns, dogs and cats, a couple of snarky designs and more.

You’re really just going to have to check it out for yourself and see if there’s anything that you like. Head to Stonelane 1827 on Etsy and let me know if anything catches your eye!

[Photo: Stonelane 1827]

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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