About a week ago I wrote a post about the ArtRage app that I’ve been playing with over the last year or so. I’ve found it to be really helpful in allowing me to draw and paint again, even if it is digitally. It’s pretty flexible which I like, and I decided to try and use the paintings I’ve done with the app in another media – cross stitch.
I hadn’t cross stitched since I was a little kid, when I got older I decided I really didn’t like the traditional patterns and kits that you could buy. I lived in a small town so the availability of patterns and such was very limited at the best of times, so there certainly wasn’t anything modern that I could buy. So I gave the craft up, and only thought about it again about six months ago. I was thinking it would be neat to be able to have other people be able to basically make their own versions of my paintings, so I came up with the idea of turning some of my paintings and drawings into cross stitch patterns.
Of course, I had no idea how to do that in practice. I looked online and downloaded an app called “Cross Stitch 2 Go” on my iPad. It was only about $2, so I figured that might be useful. The first painting I decided to use as an experiment was my digital painting “David.” The app I downloaded couldn’t turn my painting into a pattern (unless I bought the desktop version, MacStitch, which was around the $35-65 USD range depending on which features you wanted). The iPad app could however record my stitches (by me entering them manually, it has DMC thread charts and some other neat features). This was ok for me as a start because I wasn’t sure how well my painting would transfer into another media, so I wasn’t too worried about having to do the pattern by hand.
What I ended up doing to actually create the pattern was to colour photocopy my painting onto a sheet of clear acetate (like you’d use for overhead projectors). I’d brought the photocopy to the needlecraft shop to buy the floss I thought I’d be needing. I matched the colours with the photocopy as best as I could (trying to not get too many different colours) and I just guessed at how much floss I would need. I had no clue as it had been so long since I’d stitched, I didn’t even remember that I’d be using only a few strands at a time instead of the whole thread of floss (each skein has 6 strands spun into one thread). For this piece I also just guessed at the fabric – I bought some 22 count hardanger fabric that was on sale, and decided to stitch over every second thread of the fabric. So, it ended up being 11 stitches per inch, 22 per inch for my first project in close to 3 decades would have made me insane. To create the pattern, I put the acetate over the fabric and just started stitching. I kept trying to line up the photocopy to the same spot on the fabric each time – pretty much I did a few stitches in one colour, put the photocopy over the fabric to see if I needed to change colour yet, lifted up the photocopy to keep stitching, etc. It was a very long process, but it was neat seeing the painting slowly emerging on the fabric. I kind of like the finished result – it’s not as detailed or “smooth” in its colour gradations as my newer patterns I did with the MacStitch software, but I like it. The colour blocks kind of match the solid areas of colour in the original painting, and that project showed me I could get some really neat results by turning my paintings into my own cross stitch patterns.
The next digital painting I turned into a cross stitch pattern was “Pieta.” This time, I decided it would save me a ridiculous amount of time if I downloaded the actual desktop program MacStitch. I first trialed the demo version, and it was really good, but I couldn’t save my pattern so I bought the premium version of the software. There’s also WinStitch by the same company if you happen to use a Windows computer. This program was really neat, you could upload your image, make alterations to the finished thread count, size, number of colours, etc, and then upload the image. I ended up making some changes to a few details and the colours by hand (to make them more vibrant), but other than that the program did a really excellent job transferring the image to a pattern. Obviously the higher the thread count of the fabric or the bigger the finished size, the more detail you can get, but I stuck to 14 count and a finished size of 5×7″ to not make myself nuts.
This time, because I had a pattern (which I uploaded to the Cross Stitch 2 Go app so I could read it off my iPad), the stitching went much faster. Instead of about a month, it only took 2-3 weeks working off and on to finish this piece. I really like it, it’s got some lovely gradations and even with a limited palette it represents the original painting really well. I purposely limited the number of colours and the size to make it more suitable for a beginner/low intermediate stitcher.
So, that’s how I started turning my paintings into cross stitch patterns, and I’m certainly enjoying working on my current large Michelangelo piece. Below is my current progress on that one, it’s coming along slowly but very nicely.
16 Responses
RQureshi
Hi would you recommend MacStitch for those who are looking to sell embroidery patterns? Or is there a more advanced software for this?
Dana Batho
MacStitch isn’t designed for hand embroidery, most embroidery patterns I’ve seen (and that I create) are either done with VERY neat hand illustrations that have been scanned, or using software like Adobe Illustrator or some other vector drawing software (vectors = cleaner crisper lines). 🙂
Susan
Hi there, I am looking for someone who can turn Disney kinkade paintings into cross-stitch patterns. I have all the patterns mcg textiles did from his paintings. But they never did any patterns for Brave, Moana, Frozen, stitch and many others. I’ve seen the paintings for these other movies. Can anyone make them into patterns for me?
Dana Batho
Hi Susan! So I’m sure you’re not quite clear on how copyright and licensing works, or you wouldn’t be searching for those patterns. 😊 Thomas Kinkade was licensed by Disney to paint all of his paintings of Disney characters — no one can just make Disney art without being officially licensed by Disney. It’s very very difficult to be officially licensed by Disney, as unless you have an incredible skill like Kinkade (who Disney first commissioned for a painting, then licensed him to create more), it can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay the licensing fees for Disney characters. Plus your company has to prove you meet Disney’s very strict standards of quality control, that you can prove you will sell enough to be worthy of the license (like huge global distribution), etc. Disney is very veryyyy strict about its characters, movies, and other creations, justifiably so — if just anyone can create art or products based on their characters, then Disney will lose its trademarks and will go out of business entirely. MCG Textiles would have gotten a license from Disney (and possibly Kinkade, not sure how the legal agreements would have worked) to create the patterns that they did, but they don’t have a license for the paintings you’re looking for (which is why you can’t find them). So by looking for those patterns and asking soneone to create them for you, what you’re actually asking is for someone to risk being sued by Disney so you can have some patterns for your hobby. Someone could literally lose their entire business (and home, etc) from the weight of the lawsuits from Disney that would land on them. It doesn’t matter that it would be for “just” one person, or that the patterns are for a hobby, or home use, or whatever. That’s not how copyright works — the person making the patterns would be making illegal derivative reproductions of Disney art, and Disney absolutely would come after them, they have a legal responsibility to and I’ve seen illegal sellers get their entire business shut down overnight under the weight of a single Disney infringement. Each painting would count as one infringement, and just one is enough to lose everything. Also those paintings are very detailed and would be incredibly difficult to turn into patterns (it’s not as simple as running art through software, anyone who tells you it is clearly isn’t an artist or stitching designer, nor is a stitcher themselves as the generated pattern still needs a lot of hand editing to make it stitch up well). So even if they were legal to turn into patterns, the average home customer could not afford how much that would cost just for the custom charting per pattern. So I’m sorry, what you’re asking for can’t happen. I understand you didn’t know, but now you do, so please don’t ask people to do this for you in the future, as you could actually be jeopardizing their entire livelihood and worse. If you see patterns out there that aren’t by MCG Textiles, then they are very likely illegal copies. I discuss this in my separate post on copyright, but often with illegal copies of art, the chart files are embedded with malware to infect your computer when you open them. It’s called a “honeypot,” it’s a trick used by scammy or unethical companies that seem to be providing people with “hard to find” patterns, or selling other designers patterns for very cheap or are giving them away after stealing the original files. At best, the chart will stitch up terribly as it’s been charted by some crap company that just wants people’s money, they have no concerns about the craft or what a “good” chart is. If it seems too good to be true, it likely is, so be wary of patterns that aren’t coming directly from designers websites like mine. As far as I know, MCG Textiles was the only company licensed by Disney to make their patterns, so any other seller promoting Disney patterns would be illegal unless Disney has gone into a license agreement with a new one. I have a feeling they haven’t though, I think after a while Disney didn’t want to sell more stitching patterns. It’s possible it’s because cross stitch is a small niche craft compared to other crafts, so it was too difficult for the licensing company to sell enough patterns to make it profitable for them (because of the large licensing fees per image). I hope that helps, and I hope you can find other non-Disney patterns to keep you happy in your hobby, there are literally thousands of designers out there like me who have plenty that you may like to stitch. 😊
Meredith Ahrenholtz
I am considering purchasing some software to create my own pattern. My question is, when using the software to read the pattern while I’m stitching, is there an option to highlight specific symbols so it is easier to pick out the stitches I need to make with a specific color? (Note: I want to be clear that I am not asking if there is a way to mark stitches I have already completed, rather I want the program to make my upcoming stitches more identifiable.)
This is really the main issue I have when working a large full coverage piece, is that I some how just miss some of the individual stitches when I scan the pattern.
I am not familiar with any software, and don’t know if this is a feature you have ever seen.
Dana Batho
Hi Meredith! Yes, most design software will have a way to highlight a certain colour, but obviously you’d have to see if that’s a feature for whichever one you choose to buy. If you have a PDF pattern, you can also use Pattern Keeper, I’ve seen it talked about, I believe it’s an app that will allow you to highlight specified symbols in your pattern so you can stitch from it easier. 🙂
Staci Nichols
Is your Pieta pattern available for purchase?
Dana Batho
Hi Staci! No it isn’t, that pattern I’m showing in the tutorial was just a tester for the software. I’d want to make it a bit bigger if I did convert it, to get more of the detail. I did convert some of my art to full patterns as many people asked me to do that, but they weren’t as popular as the snarkier patterns on my site so they’ve been retired. 🙂
Debbie
Is the pieta pattern available for purchase?
thanks!
Dana Batho
Hi Debbie! Not at the moment, I’d want to redo that pattern better as that was literally the first time I’d used that software. 🙂
Ishwarya
Hi Dana
So the macstitch software produces patterns for the images that we upload. But what stitch type should we follow to replicate the actual image near perfection? I am a beginner and have zero knowledge in cross stictch. I would like to gift a cross stitched photo of my friend on her birthday. Thanks in advance.
Dana Batho
Hi Ishwarya, thanks for your question! You need to play with the settings and then make alterations as needed when you upload your photo as to how much detail it will give. Like if you upload a photo of someone’s face, but want to stitch it on 14 count Aida (14 stitches to the inch) and have the finished piece be only 5″ across, you’re never going to get a photo realistic look. On the other hand, if you tell the software to import the image for 28 count fabric (28 stitches to the inch) and you want the finished size to be 14″ across, then you’re going to get an amazing amount of detail and you won’t have to do much alteration at all. No software allows you to just upload an image and then the pattern is absolutely perfect (unless you upload it at the highest finished size, which could be 30″ across). That’s why a lot of the bigger art patterns, like Heaven and Earth Designs, are done as such large patterns with so many colours — that’s very close to how the software can generate the best image, so very little adaptation needs to be done to the pattern. What I’d suggest is download the demo of MacStitch (it’s free to use, you just can’t save or print your patterns with the demo), and play with the import options to see how your photo will come out. You can change how big you want the finished size, the thread count of the fabric, how many colours you want to use, etc — all that will change the details of the finished pattern. Then once it’s imported, you can make changes by hand (like change a few stitches around the eyes to make them more detailed or brighter, etc). Converting an image takes time, and it’s really dependent on the fabric you want to stitch on and how big you want to go. Does that help? 🙂
Madelyn
Please subscribe me to blog. Thank you.
Dana
Done Madelyn, sorry it took me a while, I’m finally back to a stable internet connection! 🙂
Penny
Hi Dana, I think your Pieta is beeeeeeautiful. (And that NONE of your art is creepy… What was THAT about???) I found your blog via a link on the Macstitch website (contemplating a purchase), and funnily enough I am also an Artrage fan. All my pieces are abstract – not the same level of talent as you, but that’s the wonderful thing about art right? Something for everyone!
Dana
Thanks very much Penny! And I don’t mind if others have differing opinions of my work, but that was the first time my work has been called creepy (especially as a lot is modelled after Italian Renaissance pieces). I love ArtRage, I have a neck injury so it’s allowed me to get back into drawing and painting. It’s obviously a little different than working with “real” media, but it’s better than not being able to do it at all! And I just uploaded another video and blog post about MacStitch where I go through some of the settings I use when importing, altering a pattern, and exporting, so you might find that one useful too. Enjoy the program (have a good play with the demo version), and if you have any questions feel free to ask! 🙂