How to Transfer a Cross Stitch Pattern to Your Fabric

When working small cross stitch projects, it’s easy enough to follow along with the chart and always know where you are. You can start from the center and work out, or start from a corner and work across and up and down as needed without too much trouble.

But when it comes to working bigger projects, especially if you’re new to cross stitch (or to big projects) you might want a little more help to keep you in the right place on you pattern.

I’m a fan of gridding cross stitch fabric to help you visualize where you are in the pattern. Because the chart generally will have thicker lines every 10 stitches and 10 rows, you can make those same marks on your fabric and use that grid to help orient yourself in the pattern and on your fabric.

But there are other options, a few of which Crewel Ghoul shares in their post all about transferring cross stitch patterns to the fabric.

The post includes an idea you’re going to have to see to believe, where someone used colored pencils to draw the whole pattern, stitch by stitch, before actually stitching it.

It reminds me of printed or stamped cross stitch patterns, but very DIY. I’m not sure I could be that patient, or that accurate, but it would definitely reassure you that you’re in the right place and using the right color (as long as you keep good track of which color represented which color of floss).

I would love to know if this is something you would try or if you have another method you use to help you keep track of where you are in a cross stitch pattern.

Go check out the post at Crewel Ghoul for all her advice on transferring patterns to cross stitch fabric, and let me know what you think. Which methods have you tried or would you like to try?

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

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