How to Cross Stitch a QR Code

I came across this Bored Panda post the other day that shows different cool and unusual things people have done with cross stitch. You’re welcome to scroll through the whole thing if you like — there’s definitely a lot of cool stuff in there — but the one I wanted to point out was number 11, which is from a Reddit post, in which user _The_Blonde_One_ made a QR code for their WiFi password, which is actually pretty genius.

So I dug around a little bit and found a post on Instructables by r-lavelle that explains how to go about converting a QR code into cross stitch. It’s actually not that hard to do.

They used an already produced code, but if you want to generate your own for something like your WiFi password, directions to your house or whatever you might want to keep in a handy, scanable format, you can use a free QR code generator online to develop the code you want to stitch up.

Once you have that, you can draw out a chart (or a QR code is a grid, so you can stitch directly from that if you’re super fancy). The way the Instructables tutorial does it, it makes a grid that’s 29 by 29 stitches square.

And when you have your grid transferred to graph paper, you can just stitch it up in black thread on white fabric and you’re all set. You’ll of course want to test it before you hang it to make sure it sends people where you want it to go.

I love _The_Blonde_One_’s addition of the house shape and a label so people know what it is for. If you’re chaotic you can make several QR codes to hang around your house and send people random places. I love the idea of having one hanging in the bathroom. Where would you direct people to go with your cross stitched QR code?

[Photo: _The_Blonde_One_, via Reddit]

One of the easiest ways to make a cross stitch project more personal is to add text to it. Whether you’re adding the names of people getting married to a generic floral cross stitch design, birth information to a project on theme with the new baby’s room or just adding a word or phrase that’s meaningful to you, adding words to cross stitch projects make them that much more special.

But if you’re not working with a project that already has text built in, or you want to change the text that’s there, that can feel a little daunting.

Caterpillar Cross Stitch has a great guide to adding names and words (as well as numbers) to projects, which talks you through what to consider and how to actually go about adding text to a cross stitch project successfully.

You’ll need to think about what kind of font you want to use and if you’re using back stitched letters or larger filled letters, how much space you need and how the letters work together in the text you’re planning to make sure it’s readable.

Their post includes common pitfalls such as running out a space or ending up with text that’s off center and how to avoid them (spoiler: chart out your text before you stitch!).

The whole post is really helpful if you’ve never added lettering to a project before and don’t know where to start. I like to use block letters in back stitch when learning how to add text to cross stitch, but of course there are tons of lettering options. Check out this collection of cross stitch fonts if you want to see some different things you can try.

And head over to Caterpillar Cross Stitch to get more tips for how to successfully add lettering to your cross stitch projects. They also have their own alphabet and number charts you can buy to add text to your stitching.

Have you ever added text to a cross stitch project? I’d love to hear how it went!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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