Create a Customized Needlework Pattern
Here is a way to take your favorite verse and create a cross-stitch pattern of your very own.
Designing Your Own Cross-Stitch Pattern
Materials Needed:
- Tracing Paper
- Computer
- Printer
- Printer Paper
- Cross-stitch fabric
- Pencil
Find the verse you would like to cross-stitch. You can look online if you don’t have a favorite. We will use the verse below for our sample.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
If you want a long verse like the example, the cross-stitch fabric needs to have a very small weave. If you use a short verse, you can use a larger weave.
Type the verse on your computer. Alter the font style and size according to your needs. Be careful about making the font too intricate for your first time. When you have the verse centered and formatted just right, go ahead and print it. You may need to print several times, altering the size as you go.
On the package of your cross-stitch fabric, it tells you how many stitches per inch. This is very important to remember.
Next, you are going to print graph paper onto the tracing paper. There is a free site on the web for making graph paper. Simply click here for that site. It will let you set up the graph paper for large or small-weave fabric. This is when you use the number from the package of cross stitch fabric. The stitches per inch correlate with the squares per inch. Once you have your graph paper set up, print. This may also take several tries to get it just right.
Lay the tracing paper graph over the printed verse. Trace the entire verse onto the graph paper. Fill in any of the blocks with an X that is completely within the font. Any block that is half of the font should be filled with a / in the direction the font goes. You now have a pattern for your verse. You can do the same thing with borders and flowers to enhance your verse. Use color to shade in the different areas. Experiment and have fun with seeing how far you can take it. Check out free clip art for ideas.