I am a fan for sure.
Though I never really do any crafts, I always want to.
Cross stich is basically pushing pixels with thread, so it's all good in my book.
Cross-stitch is kinda like knitting for dummies. It's super easy. Basically, you're given a pattern on a sheet of paper that looks like paint-by-numbers. It's just a grid where each square is assigned a different color (usually represented with a code). Then you take a needle and thread, a piece of cross-stitch fabric (has squares stamped into it), and stitch an "X" (this is where the "cross" comes in) of the appropriate color into the appropriate square. And repeat.
That's pretty much it! Sometimes the pattern will call for lines (like in Hello Kitty's whiskers below.) This is easy, though. You just pull the thread straight across multiple squares.
I did some cross-stitch when I was a kid, and was thinking about getting back into it. Very soothing. Nice to do when listening to music while it's raining. Also very satisfying to start with a blank canvas, and then gradually see a recognizable picture take shape and come alive. The best part is it doesn't require any special training or artistic talent. Just patience and careful attention to detail.
There are simplified ones that are small in size and only use a few colors. These can be knocked out in a few hours. If you're ambitious, though, you can go for the giant ones with a ton of different colors.
They sell ready-made kits that come with the pattern, fabric, needle and thread, and sometimes even a wooden clamp-like thingy (don't know the name of these) that holds the fabric taut for easy stitching.
Here's a tutorial for how to make your own pattern from scratch if you have a copy of Photoshop. One annoying thing, though, is that you'll have to figure out the thread colors yourself (there are color charts on the web to help you). There's also a program called Stitch Maker that I haven't tried, but I'm hoping it does this last step for you.
Here's an example of a simple pattern (no codes required because there's only a handful of colors):
And then here's the finished piece:
Here's a couple pastoral settings with lots of detail:
A sweet one for Valentine's Day.
See, here somebody made their own pattern from a picture of their baby. Pretty cute.
This person has made some videogame-themed cross-stitch buttons (among other cute little trinkets).
This is pretty creative. Grid-patterned shirt required!
Last edited by Compass; 13 Nov 2007 at 05:01 PM. Reason: Forgot the tutorial link (by the way I tried it, and it's a piece of cake).
I am a fan for sure.
Though I never really do any crafts, I always want to.
Cross stich is basically pushing pixels with thread, so it's all good in my book.
i did some cross-stitching when i was a wee one as well. my mom would bring the kits home and i'd want to do them too.
Donk
This reminds me of the latch hook rugs that were all the rage with the kids in Kuala Lumpur.
I never did finish my Snoopy rug.
My mom has a bunch of this stuff back home, I've been wanting to try it out but haven't had any patterns. I love the hello kitty one, I should print some off before I visit for christmas.
I just recently started knitting again (the winter months bring it out of me) I've gotten a lot faster than I use to be, almost done with my scarf. <3
Like Kidnemo, I really love pixels, so I think cross-stitching is pretty neat. Never done any of it, myself.
My mom used to be all about this...I don't have enough patience myself.
My mom used to do this also, a long time ago. I almost went to Walmart one night a few years ago when I was all fucked up because I wanted to do some cross stitching. None of my friends were up to it though. I've never done it before. It might seem pussy, but you can make some pretty cool shit out of it.
Well, i am a fan and like the cross stitch, however, it was not easy for me at the first time as i was always confused by the similar color threads, especially this pattern and
have still not finished this beauty cross stitch.
Last edited by barbarbayee; 25 Jan 2010 at 08:11 PM.
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