How to Cross Stitch Your Family

At my daughter’s school there’s a teacher who is amazing at cross stitch, and she loves making cross-stitch family portraits. They’re always so cute, and a fun way to add some personality to your walls that’s completely personalized and a little more special than a picture.

While it can be time consuming to figure out exactly how to stitch a family portrait, it’s not really that hard to cross stitch your family.

Martha Stewart has a quick overview, which I like for the advice on head sizes (10 stitches across for adults, 9 for kids, even smaller for babies).

But if you really want some good instructions on how to cross stitch your family portrait yourself, head over to Do Small Things with Love. She has a tutorial that shows how she turned a picture into cross stitch, and did another a year later that shows a different look. She has little sample people you can use as the basis for your design, or just go on your own with some graph paper to turn a picture into an adorable cross-stitched portrait.

Have you ever done this? I think it looks like a lot of fun and I’d really like to try it some day. If you have, I’d love to hear your tips!

[Photo via Do Small Things with Love.]

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If you’re a fan of detailed and colorful cross stitch patterns, Design for Cross Stitch might have a pattern you want to try. This Etsy shop is based in Spain and has more than 50 designs with a focus on animals, holidays and landscapes.

I’m just going to start with the first pattern that caught my eye when I visited the site, which is this Sakura by the Lake project. This pattern is 200 by 200 stitches and the whole background is stitched, so it’s definitely not for a beginner, but it’s stunning and would be amazing to make for someone who loves Japan. Despite the detail it only uses 24 colors. Worked on 14 count fabric it will measure 14.64 inches, or 37.19 cm.

There are a few other landscape designs, including a canal in Venice and a few cabins in the woods.

The shop also has some cute animal cross stitch, with big, round faces and often holding a warm beverage. Holiday projects focus on Christmas and Halloween. Most of the patterns have a cute, chibi-like feel, but there are some that are more detailed and realistic as well. Take for examples the flower patterns, which are full of details and soft colors.

You’ll also find some fun bookmark cross stitch patterns with a watercolor feel, as well as some that look kind of like paint pouring turned into stitches.

If this sort of stuff sounds like fun to you, check out their Etsy store at Design for Cross Stitch.

Do you have a favorite cross stitch designer who I haven’t featured yet? Let me know in the comments or share more about them by clicking on “suggest a DIY” at the center top of the page and let me know the details. I’d love to share the designers you’re enjoying with a wider audience.

[Photo: Design for Cross Stitch]

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