If you’re a fan of art nouveau, art deco or the arts and crafts period in design, have I got a treat for you today. Etsy seller Whoopicat is based in Michigan and makes glorious stitched reproductions of classic designs, as well as projects inspired by vintage illustrations.
Sometimes I don’t even know where to begin or what one photo to share with you when I’m writing these posts, and that’s definitely the case this time around. Historic botanical prints? Golden age illustrations? Reproductions of William Morris wallpaper designs? Early 1900s French fashion illustrations? There’s so much to like and make me wish my cross stitch skills were a little more than what they are so I would feel up to stitching any of these.
OK. How about this mandala cross stitch design based on a circular design of Christopher Dresser’s? He was an English designer in the late 1800s who was quite influential in the Aesthetic movement.
The design looks complex, but because it’s symmetrical it’s not as difficult as some of the others, and it only uses 10 colors. You can keep it in the tones of yellow, red and blue shown, or adjust it to suit your space better. (The whole idea of aestheticism is to make something beautiful, after all!) It measures 173 by 173 stitches, or 12.36 inches/31.4 cm square. It’s a great size for a pillow or a wall hanging.
If this sort of style appeals to you at all, you should definitely spend some time browsing around to find your favorites. (They have more than 700 designs as of this writing.)
And lest you think it’s all high art, there’s a fun collection of vintage and vintage-inspired holiday designs, too. I’m partial to this one developed from a postcard showing a bunch of black cats in front of a jack o’lantern.
Check out all their designs at Whoopicat on Etsy.
