Cross-Stitch - Cross Stitch Patterns How To Choose a Design

Do you prefer small or large cross stitch patterns? If you haven’t quite decided, we’ll talk about the ups and downs of each.The styles and sizes of cross stitch patterns can vary immensely, as you may have noticed.There are patterns available that are small, which can be finished up in a few hours. Conversly, there are cross stitch patterns out there that are so large they may take several months or even years to finish. What you have to remember though when picking out a pattern, the most important concept to keep in mind is that you enjoy stitching it.

There are several things that determine the difficulty of a design, but the most obvious is size. The advantages of stitching a small design are numerous. Some cross stitchers get bored with large patterns and like to keep changing projects. If this is you, you will enjoy the smaller projects because they can be completed quickly. Some people love to have a finished project right away, so projects that are small such as holiday ornaments or bookmarks can give some almost-instant gratification. Smaller projects are also easier to handle, giving them another advantage. With smaller projects, you won’t find yourself with lots of extra fabric outside of the hoop, which some people find dfficult to handle. The disadvantage of stitching small projects can be continued cost. How can this be? If you are stitching small projects and finish a project every few days, when you start on a new one, there’s additional cost for more fabric, floss and another pattern. Of course, to cut costs, you can find free cross stitch patterns on the web. One great resource for finding free cross stitch patterns is www.FreeXstitchPatterns.com. Another great source for free and inexpensive cross stitch patterns on the internet is XstitchPatterns.com, where you can usually find that they have a free cross stitch design available. You can also use the coupon code *promo09* (without the astericks) in the shopping cart for a $2.95 discount (which makes one pattern free).

So, that’s the scoop about small designs, what about large cross stitch patterns? With a large design, once you have purchased all of your supplies before starting, if this project lasts you several weeks or months, then there will be no further costs associated with it for quite a while. The large number of floss colors can be daunting for some stitchers, but some actually prefer this. Because of the largeness of the design, each floss will be used substantially more (usually), which can result in being able to use the same floss color for quite a while.. With a large cross stitch pattern, though, comes large pieces of fabric. After hooping your fabric, that leaves lots of bulk to hang over the hoop, which is difficult to mange sometimes. Some stitchers also may tire of working on the same design for a long time, and end up putting a large project away and not finishing it. Despite these minor disadvantages, the end result with a large project can be quite stunning.

Although there are other factors to consider when deciding on a particular cross stitch design in addition to things such as types of stitches, specialty stitches, etc. you should have a basic knowledge about what to expect for both large and small cross stitch patterns, so this should help you with your decision making some when it comes to choosing a pattern. But, just remember, this hobby can be very rewarding and relaxing. Be sure to pick out a pattern that you will enjoy stitching and you’ll be much more likely to finish it and will enjoy the finished design so much more!

Visit these sites for more cross stitch information:

Free Cross Stitch Patterns

More Great Cross Stitch Patterns – you can get a free cross stitch pattern here – use coupon code promo09Beautiful hand dyed cross stitch fabric – Silkweaver

You can find more cross stitch information here – Counted Cross Stitch Blog

Squidoo lens about cross stitch – Cross Stitch Information

More Cross Stitch Info

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