Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint
Winter has only just begun, so there’s plenty of time to stitch this beautiful winter deer pattern from Smart Cross Stitch.
The design is mostly a winter scene with the Northern Lights, with the deer worked on top in backstitch. The design, by Alisa Okenas, uses 17 colors and is 91 by 91 stitches. That comes out to 6.5 inches square on 14 count fabric.
You can download the free pattern from Smart Cross Stitch.
[Photo via Smart Cross Stitch.]
I don’t usually cross stitch text or add words to my cross stitch projects. Sometimes I will sign things using basic block lettering worked in backstitch (luckily my initials are pretty easy to stitch), but if you give your cross stitch as a gift or otherwise want to personalize it, adding text is a great way to go.
But if a project didn’t already come with text, and you don’t want to draw your own, you’ll need a good cross stitch font that you can use for your project.
I like collecting fonts that are easy to read and to stitch and that would be good for lots of different uses.
For example I really like this bold alphabet font from Cross Stitch with Art, which has both capital and lowercase letters as well as numbers if you need them for dates or other information on your design. The capital letters are an inch/2.5 cm/14 stitches tall, which makes it easy to figure out how much space you need to leave for them. It’s a nice, basic, readable serif font you can use for lots of project.
If you want a script font that’s still really readable, check out Magic Calligraphy from Soft Pattern Designs. This hand drawn font has upper case letters around 28 stitches tall, with lower case letters mostly being around 20 stitches (though the ones that go up or down a lot like f, p and y are bigger). The numbers also vary a bit in size but range from 25 to 29 stitches.
Sometimes you just want a classic font that looks like sports lettering, and in that case you’re going to need Varsity, an all caps font from Stitch Mod. This one has letters that are 21 stitches tall, and it includes capital letters and numbers. But there are definitely times this one would come in handy!
Another sometimes useful and really cute font is this alphabet block letters alphabet from Stitch Junction. These letters are all upper case and look like classic building blocks, and there are also numbers available. This one would be perfect for a birth announcement project or some other cross stitch for the baby’s room.
And if that’s not enough for you, check out this post with 85 free cross stitch fonts for you to try!