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]

Inkspire Studio Shops offers cross stitch patterns as well as tons of different stitch minders, scissor charms and thread organization tools.

We’ll get to all that, but since we’re mostly here for the patterns, let’s start there.

All of the patterns are in one category (called Inkspire Originals if you’re following along). There are a lot of book-themed projects and more of the designs are bookmarks than anything else. You’ll find trope bookmarks, a Reading Rainbow themed design, flowers and a super cute watercolor set bookmark, to name a few.

And while the book themed projects are by far the most numerous, I wanted to share this super cute pile of vintage Pyrex style bowls. I love the colors on this one and it should be easy to stitch because so much of it is blocks (or bowls) of a single color. This one is only available as a printed pattern, but most of them are digital.

It calls for six colors and comes out 5.6 by 6.9 inches, or 14.2 by 17.5 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric.

In addition to the bookmarks and book themed projects you’ll find a few kitchen projects and some Halloween and Christmas designs as well.

But what this shop is really about is needle minders, and there are tons of them, with all kinds of themes ranging from introverted and snarky to animal themes, food and beverages, retro designs and religious and inspiring needle minders.

If you don’t know about needle minders, these are acrylic with magnets. You stick a magnet to the back of your work, add the needle minder to the front of the work, and then it holds your sewing needle when you’re not stitching. No need for piercing your fabric or losing your needle between stitching sessions.

She also makes charms you can attach to your scissors (or use as a stitch marker if you’re a knitter or crocheter), inventory and project trackers and bags large and small to hold works in progress and other supplies. She’s also got a great collection of vintage cross stitch patterns and kits, so check out all the fun goodies at Inkspired Studio Shops.

[Photo: Inkspire Studio Shops]

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