Cross-Stitch

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Stitchers Share Snarky Reactions to Design Contest

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artist compensation design contest

I don’t know what thread maker DMC was thinking when it proposed a design contest in which the winner’s design would be made into a pattern without compensating the designer, but the design community definitely didn’t like the idea.

Because entry into the contest was to be done through a hashtag, stitchers took to social media to protest the contest, with stitched obscenities and designs related to not being able to pay bills with exposure.

The good news is that DMC relented, and as of May 1 have been promoting the contest as having a $500 cash prize.

It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the #dmcxstitchcontest hashtag on Instagram (warning: lots of salty language) to see how this all turns out.

Do you think designers should be compensated for work used by a big company? (Or even a small one?) I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: stephxstitch via Instagram]

Looking for more Snarky or Subversive Cross stitch charts and designs? Check these out on Etsy. 

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Comments

  1. Absolutely, a designer should be compensated for their work. It takes a lot of time and effort to create something. At least a small gift would be appropriate.

  2. Good Grief, YES we should be compensated! The time we crafters spend honing our craft and designing for the enjoyment of others is every bit as valuable and anyone else’s!

  3. I absolutely agree that artists need to be paid for their creativity – regardless of the size of the company/organisation. There would need to be a very good reason for why the artist ins’t paid – e.g. terms in the contract/agreement that state that the artist will be compensated in other ways. It’s disappointing that it took such a public reaction for DMC to update the competition to have a $500 prize for the winning design, as they will still make a significant amount of money from the sales of their floss via their website and global stockists.

    I hope that DMC are able to learn from this experience and that in the future, there are similar competitions and ways in which artists are able to get the exposure they want, need and deserve.

  5. Well, of course they should! Even if the company had a good reason for not awarding a cash prize, they could at least have offered supplies in return for the design.

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Fancy Pumpkin Cross Stitch Patterns

If you’re ready to move beyond basic, solid orange pumpkins, check out these pumpkin cross stitch patterns that are just a little bit fancier with some kind of pattern on the pumpkin. 

Keep it simple and rustic with this plaid pumpkin form Cross Stitch with Art. You can make the plaid whatever colors you want to match your decor, or keep with the Halloween color palette. It uses three colors and comes out to about 6 inches/15.24 cm square when you stitch it on 14 count fabric. 

Mamaida Pattern has this cute pumpkin with a vine in the negative space. Since that portion isn’t actually stitched (though you could make it green if you like) that makes this pattern pretty easy. It uses just two colors and measures 108 by 110 stitches. That’s about 7.7 by 7.9 inches or 19.6 by 20 cm on 14 count fabric. 

Speaking of negative space, this design by Tinsel Cross Stitch blows out the pumpkin a bit so the ridges are negative space and the colors here too have kind of a vineing effect. This design is 98 by 113 stitches and uses three colors. It measures 7 by a little more than 8 inches, or 17.78 by 20.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Get even more detailed with the carving effect on this pumpkin cross stitch pattern from Anemone Patterns. This one is 85 by 83 stitches, which comes out to 6.1 by 5.9 inches (15.4 by 15.1 cm).

In a similar vein but a different color, there’s this pretty green pumpkin from Crystal Feather Crafts. Of course you could make it any color you like, but I always like to remind people that even in nature not all pumpkins are orange. This design measures 101 by 93 stitches, which is 7.2 by 6.6 inches/18.3 by 16.9 cm. 

And speaking of color, if you want to stitch a pumpkin with boho vibes, this one from Stitch Craft Creatives is probably the one for you. At 200 stitches square, it comes out to 14.4 inches or 36.3 cm square on 14 count fabric. It uses 14 colors for a very vibrant pumpkin!