haha those images are inspiring. I got a couple quotes I'd like to do, but I've also been trying to think of creative ways to put my character designs on my walls without it being a computer printout. Framing a string-made character would look classy :D

I thought there was really only one way to do it. Get those plastic grid sheets, some string/yarn, and graph paper. Block in the design on the grid of graph paper (using colored pencil or crayon if you're doing more than 2 colors) and just use that as the reference to the plastic grid. Is there a better way?

There are so many people I need to get those for!!!

Squared paper is a great way to make your own designs (works best if the squares are the same size or bigger than squares of your final thing) Drawing (or printing or whatever) your squares onto tracing paper or acetate is a good idea if you want to copy a photo or cartoon or something.

There are a few programmes out there which you can feed bitmaps into and they make patterns for you, but I've haven't used any. The Pixellate filter on Photoshop does a similar job - reducing the number of colours you use might be a good idea too.

Besides plastic sheets you can also get fabric for cross stitch with all sorts of sized holes - smaller holes are harder to sew but look much better. Fabric tends to look better than the plastic sheeting and you can just leave the bits you don't want to sew. It generally comes in cream but it tends to be cotton so you could easily dye it.

Graph paper works great. You can also pick up cross-stitch books with helpful things like alphabets in them - saves re-inveting how to create each letter.

I never found having paper bigger or smaller than the cross stitch squares as an issue - as long as I could easily count out the pattern. I recommend graph paper with strongly colored grid lines.

I also recommend the fabric over the plastic canvas. Much nicer looking. It does come in colors - I've seen a great variety of colors, as well as pure white and cream. (A quick google search finds this: href:"http://www.willowfabrics.com/acatalog/Zweigart_14_count_Aida_Fabric.html" - many colors of fabric. And those are only the dark colors).

Graph paper works great. You can also pick up cross-stitch books with helpful things like alphabets in them - saves re-inveting how to create each letter.

I never found having paper bigger or smaller than the cross stitch squares as an issue - as long as I could easily count out the pattern. I recommend graph paper with strongly colored grid lines.

I also recommend the fabric over the plastic canvas. Much nicer looking. It does come in colors - I've seen a great variety of colors, as well as pure white and cream. (A quick google search finds this: href:"http://www.willowfabrics.com/acatalog/Zweigart_14_count_Aida_Fabric.html" - many colors of fabric. And those are only the dark colors).

Graph paper works great. You can also pick up cross-stitch books with helpful things like alphabets in them - saves re-inveting how to create each letter.

I never found having paper bigger or smaller than the cross stitch squares as an issue - as long as I could easily count out the pattern. I recommend graph paper with strongly colored grid lines.

I also recommend the fabric over the plastic canvas. Much nicer looking. It does come in colors - I've seen a great variety of colors, as well as pure white and cream. (A quick google search finds this: href:"http://www.willowfabrics.com/acatalog/Zweigart_14_count_Aida_Fabric.html" - many colors of fabric. And those are only the dark colors).

As well as subversion, don't forget the clear aesthetic similarities here with old-school 8-bit gaming. (Is it subversive to replace the hearts and holly backgrounding a "God bless us every one" with, say, a Mappy level?)

Graph paper works great. You can also pick up cross-stitch books with helpful things like alphabets in them - saves re-inveting how to create each letter.

I never found having paper bigger or smaller than the cross stitch squares as an issue - as long as I could easily count out the pattern. I recommend graph paper with strongly colored grid lines.

I also recommend the fabric over the plastic canvas. Much nicer looking. It does come in colors - I've seen a great variety of colors, as well as pure white and cream. (A quick google search finds this: href:"http://www.willowfabrics.com/acatalog/Zweigart_14_count_Aida_Fabric.html" - many colors of fabric. And those are only the dark colors).

Graph paper works great. You can also pick up cross-stitch books with helpful things like alphabets in them - saves re-inveting how to create each letter.

I never found having paper bigger or smaller than the cross stitch squares as an issue - as long as I could easily count out the pattern. I recommend graph paper with strongly colored grid lines.

I also recommend the fabric over the plastic canvas. Much nicer looking. It does come in colors - I've seen a great variety of colors, as well as pure white and cream. (A quick google search finds this: href:"http://www.willowfabrics.com/acatalog/Zweigart_14_count_Aida_Fabric.html" - many colors of fabric. And those are only the dark colors).

Sorry for the double posting - I kept getting an error, so kept trying to post again. Oops...

ACK! Sorry for the posting spam. I kept erroring out, and so kept trying to submit my comment.

misuba's idea is awesome! i would love to see a cross-stiched title screen from super mario bros. or a FFI or Dragon Warrior battle scene. i'm guessing it would probably be really complex to do, but it would make a most bad-ass christmas present. i'd hang that on my wall in a second.

-titus

I love this topic Jane and I think we like the "subversive" message because we know the one our grandparents clung to was false. "God Bless This Home", yea, and stop Dad from drinking, or get Mom her meds, or get my sis/bro off drugs. Whatever. This candy coated messages just don't ring true anymore.

I love the idea of playing with traditional forms of feminine arts. Knitting, for example, is fascinating to me because you're converting the one-dimension of string into a two dimension textile which can then be wrapped around a three-dimensional body and then unraveled to express the fourth dimension of the passage of time.


How eloquently put . . . yer a clevur gurl! :-)

interesting; i'm a knitter, but i never thought about it that way. it pleases me though.
there's a pattern in this book, called stitch & bitch, for a scarf that has hidden alien faces in it that you can see when you look at it diagonally ... some people have discussed making it with things like "fuck off" hidden in it instead.

My friend found a cross stitch of a goose that says "Back door guests are best." The great thing is it wasn't intended to be subversive, and the lady at the garage sale couldn't understand why my friend found it funny.

--It generally comes in cream but it tends to be cotton so you could easily dye it.

Ok - at the risk of ruining my "he-man woman hater's club" tough guy image [Any other Our Gang fans out there?]

You are much better off getting the fabric pre dyed. I've seen colors as deep as midnight blue and as fine as crisp white linen, with most of the shades in between.

Also - if you can handle it move to the finer fabrics like 24 or 28 count if possible. It will make for a nicer presenatation. At least I'm finding it not too bad to work with.

My wife is a mad stitcher and I thought I'd give it a go and make something for my mum for Christmas. It's amazing what pushing off a pending thesis will make you do....

Bill
(aka Bungo Bumbleroot of Fair Downs )

You can also probably draw something in photoshop and then run the mosaic filter on it - voila... Instant cross-stitch squares?

Hey - Julie from subversive here. I'm so glad to see this discussion because it's all about making it your own and coming up with your own phrases! You've got some good ideas, I too love the "Back Door Guests" one, it always makes me laugh.

I recommend PCStitch for designing -- it's a really versatile program, plus you can type words into a pattern using any font on your computer. They have a free download so you can try it out. I think the limitations are that you can't save patterns without buying it, but the trial is a good way to test it. I'm amazed at how much easier it's been than the graph paper way, which is what I always did. I think it's at pcstitch.com

Here's another great site I've used: hanging by a thread. She has free charts of several different fonts if you're doing it the graph paper way.

My favorite thing to do in the beginning was to just find the sickest sweetest kit in a local craft store, the cheesier and cheaper the better, and change out the words. It's fun to walk around a chirpy craft store rearranging the phrases on cross stitch kits to suit your own snarky thoughts...! Have fun!

jpb ppyt psycholog zdrowa żywność nieruchomości projektowanie stron agencja reklamowa soczewki kontaktowe nauka angielskiego agroturystyka opony klimatyzacja domy opieki akupunktura hydraulik projektowanie wnętrz soha jpk paa ki wypadki tfrd jh sw jft pp fdr