Designer Spotlight: StudioHMP

Classic old world cross stitch designs and finished pieces are what you will find at Ukraine-based Etsy shop StudioHMP.

This designer has about 60 cross stitch designs as I write this, with an emphasis on classic samplers, florals, birds and geometric designs.

The colors are often muted pastels, which gives the projects even more of a peaceful, classic look.

They’re not all totally traditional, however. Take this Quaker style sampler that might look rather traditional at first, but the more you look the more you see: from the text “first I drink the coffee” to the coffee grinders and post to the border made out of coffee-bean shaped motifs.

The pattern calls for five colors and you can stick with the muted palette of the original or go bolder as you like for your kitchen. It uses 194 by 196 stitches, which comes out to 13.9 by 14 inches or 35.2 by 35.6 cm on 14 count fabric. (It’s just a little bigger than 12 by 12 on 16 count if you want it to be a little smaller.)

There are a few Easter and St. Patrick’s Day designs, as well as Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and fall. You’ll also find a collection of designs of small animals stitches into little geometric frames. These designs include animals such as a panda, turtle, racoon and hippo.

If you don’t want to stitch the projects yourself or you’re looking for a special gift for a fellow stitcher, there’s also a collection of finished cross stitch projects available for purchase. These are boxes, needle cushions, ornaments or framed designs.

The shop isn’t arranged into categories other than cross stitch patterns and finished cross stitch, so you’ll have to browse around a bit to find what you’re looking for, or do a keyword search if you’re looking for an animal, a holiday design, a sampler, etc.

Check out all this shop has to offer at the StudioHMP storefront on Etsy.

[Photo: StudioHMP]

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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