Designer Spotlight: The World in Stitches

The thing that drew me to The World in Stitches’ Etsy shop was all the bright and cheerful color. The shop, which is based in the UK, has a header (as of this writing anyway) that shows four different colorful geometric patterns in rainbow colors, which definitely got my attention.

One of them is the Spectrum Mandala pattern shown above, because you might as well see what I am talking about. If I’m counting right it uses 10 colors and it is all whole stitches, but it might not be the best for completely novice stitchers. The design is 165 by 165 stitches, which works out to 10.3 by 10.3 inches, or 26.2 by 26.2 cm, on the recommended 16-count fabric.

Head to the colour and geometrics section of the shop if you want to see more patterns like this. You’ll find colorful geometric hearts, mandalas, hot air balloons, lanterns and more.

One thing to note about this shop is that they sell digital patterns as well as kits, so just be aware of what you’re ordering, especially if you don’t happen to live in the UK.

If you are willing to ship, though, they do have a cute collection of beginner’s kits including a Santa, penguin, a few hearts and other designs.

There are quite a few Christmas and Halloween themed designs if those are things you are into.

On the whole these designs are colorful and cheerful, often using bright rainbow colors or harmonious pastels. It’s hard to look at them and not smile, which I think will be the reaction when you stitch them as well. Some of them are smaller and relatively easy for new stitchers, while others include a lot of detail and colors that are better for folks further along on their cross stitch journey.

Either way, check out all their offerings at The World in Stitches.

[Photo: The World in Stitches]

Next Pattern:

Cross Stitch Patterns to Celebrate Holi

I recently wrote a post on my blog about using a stitchable journal cover and I mentioned that you can make your own stitched cover for a journal by using perforated paper instead of buying a stitchable notebook.

I have to admit, though, that I’ve never used perforated paper for cross stitch myself. I definitely want to because I think it would be great to use for bookmarks that don’t fray and have a little more stability, for example.

Sirious Stitches has us covered, though, because they did a deep dive into all things perforated cross stitch pattern that is worth the time to read through.

The post mentions that a lot of people use perforated paper for cross stitch because they buy an ornament kit that uses it. I’ve never seen these (or at least never noticed that that is what they were) but it’s a great idea to make small projects like ornaments in this way. It also talks about the pros and cons of using cross stitch paper, where to buy it and how to make your own.

Making it yourself is an awesome idea because if you already have a pattern in mind you can just make holes in your paper where you need stitches to be and leave the rest solid. This would be ideal for making greeting cards, for example.

In addition to kits and sheets you can often find the paper pre-cut into different shapes you can use to make your own designs, no real pattern required.

The post also includes tips and advice for how to stitch on perforated paper that you’ll want to check out before you try your first project.

I’m super intrigued by the idea of using perforated paper for cross stitch and will probably be trying it out soon. Have you used it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Check out the post over at Sirious Stitches for more information.

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?