Frequently Asked Questions

 

Do you have questions? Well you’re in the right place then! 🙂 Below you’ll find some common questions about the products available at Peacock & Fig, commissioning and licensing queries, collaboration and sponsorship queries, and cross stitch & hand embroidery tips. If you have questions about Peacock & Fig or the designer and artist Dana, just head on over to the About page.

 

Fine Art, Surface Design, & Illustration

 

Yes I do! You can check out what’s currently available on the home decor page, more shops will be listed as they get added.

I’m so pleased to announce that I’m now selling certain paintings as art prints in a variety of sizes. You can see them all here, and if you’d like more information on production and shipping times, please see the Shipping page.

At this time I’m not selling original oil paintings, but that is coming soon. If you see any paintings on my website or social media that you’re interested in purchasing, please reach out via my contact page.

I do take on licensing and commissions for my oil paintings, surface pattern designs and illustrations, please use the contact page to get in touch. For stitching patterns, unfortunately no longer accepting commissions.

If you’re interested in collaborating with me for art/illustration/surface design projects, product reviews, or sponsorships, please reach out via the contact form. If it’s regarding cross stitch or embroidery design collaborations, unfortunately I’m no longer focusing on that area of design so I’m not available for collabs or projects in that sphere.

Absolutely! Please get in touch via the contact form and I’ll let you know your options.

Yes I do! I send roughly bi-weekly emails to people wanting to hear about what’s new with Peacock & Fig art & designs, what I’m currently working on, upcoming exhibitions, etc. You can also get a discount code for 15% off your stitching pattern purchase and access to some free downloads such as cross stitch and hand embroidery patterns by signing up. You can join the Peacock Lounge for free here. If you’re an art director, company, or agency wanting to stay informed of my newest surface pattern designs and art, please contact me via my contact page and I’ll add you to a separate list for quarterly updates.

 

 

Cross Stitch & Hand Embroidery

 

Whether or not you’re new to cross stitch and/or hand embroidery, for the fastest and most efficient way to get up to speed and improve your skills, check out the Peacock & Fig Skillshare channel. It has intro and intermediate classes for both cross stitch and hand embroidery, and each class comes with a free pattern too. Plus, even if you don’t already have a Skillshare account, you can get a free two month trial with any of my classes.

 

CHECK OUT THE STITCHY CLASSES
 

Of course! There is even a free “How to Cross Stitch” instructional PDF that you can add to your cart at checkout with full-colour photos and links to tutorial videos. All Peacock & Fig patterns have been designed with a range of stitchers in mind. If you’re really wanting extra tips, there is also this roundup of all the tutorials for beginner cross stitchers. and you can see all the hand embroidery tutorials here.  Plus you can also access the free cross stitch and hand embroidery patterns that are perfect for beginners!

To be as cost-effective for the stitcher as possible and to provide the highest quality patterns, all the patterns available from peacockandfig.com are only available as digital PDF patterns. This reduces the costs of printing, packaging, and shipping to the stitcher, and it means that once your payment has been processed you will be sent a link to instantly download your pattern. You can get stitching straight away! If you’d like to print them, you can do that at home, any print shop, and many libraries also have a printer available. Also, Peacock & Fig patterns are available in printed format at many needlework shops across the United States and Canada — you can see a list of these retailers here but if you’d like more information (as this list is only periodically updated), please reach out via the contact form.

At this time, none of the Peacock & Fig patterns are available as kits. Peacock & Fig prides itself on providing high-quality service to its customers, and providing the highest quality embroidery floss, fabric, needles, etc to the stitcher with the pattern would make the patterns prohibitively expensive. The designer is happy to help you figure out where to source your stitching materials if you need help, but most craft or stitching stores will have a range of the basic supplies you will need for your pattern. There are also dozens of fantastic online shops where floss, fabric and notions can be purchased, such as Joanns and 123stitch.com in the US, and Stitch It Central and Charting Creations in Canada.

That’s a great question, and one that’s very common. You have two options — one is to print the pages of the PDF at the size and style you like (full colour or black and white), and the other is to read the pattern directly from your computer or device like a tablet or e-reader. Many of the Peacock & Fig patterns come with a separate one-page pattern (with a colour key) to be used on electronic devices (see individual pattern listings for details). There are many PDF reader programs available, such as or example Preview on a Mac, GoodReader on iOS, or Adobe Reader on a Mac or PC. Some PDF reader programs will also be able to highlight individual symbols which makes following your pattern even simpler. If you’re having issues reading the PDF on your device, make sure you have the most up-to-date version of your program. Many people choose to highlight the pattern (electronically or on their printed working copy) as they work, and others prefer to simply count where they are. You can also aid your counting by pre-gridding your fabric before stitching — there are instructional videos on how to do gridding with a pencil or marker and how to grid with fishing line on the site.

A full stitch means that you go up one hole and over one hole in one direction, and then the same in the other direction to make your full “X” stitch. A fractional stitch means that instead of going from each corner to corner, you’d only go halfway for one of the arms of the X. For more information on how to do fractional stitches, please check out this post and video. If you’re using Aida fabric (the most common fabric to learn cross stitch on, it’s got blocks of overlapping threads in between each hole), this means that you would usually have to do a fractional stitch by piercing the centre of the block of threads. One advantage of fractional stitches is you can create a lot more detail in a smaller physical space. Some disadvantages of using fractional stitches is they can be harder to do (depending on the fabric you are using), and they can also make your stitching progress take a little longer until you get used to doing them. For more information on how to do a full cross stitch, please see this video.

Backstitch is a (usually) black outline that goes around the outside of shapes. It can also be used for finer details like eyes, whiskers, or lettering. Backstitch is not difficult to do, but it can take time. In a pattern it is shown by a darker black line (or the colour of the backstitch thread). For more information you can go to this blog post about backstitch, or watch the tutorial video here.

Yes there are! There are several playlists in the Peacock & Fig YouTube channel, and one is called Cross Stitch Tips and Techniques. This playlist is designed for stitchers with a little more experience, but of course the tips will help even those who have never stitched a pattern before.

There sure is! Just click here for an online DMC/Anchor conversion chart. If you enter your floss number in the search bar at the top right of the chart, both the DMC and Anchor conversions will come up. It doesn’t matter which floss manufacturer you prefer to use, just make sure you use only one manufacturer per project. Dyes can be sometimes a bit different between the manufacturers, so DMC black might stitch up very slightly differently than Anchor black. If you mix the two blacks in one project, it might be noticeable. Use whatever manufacturer you like, but only use that one for each project.

For customer service questions about a pattern you’ve purchased (or would like to purchase) from peacockandfig.com, please get in touch via the contact form and I’ll be happy to help you out. Unfortunately due to the volume of requests I’m unable to respond to individual stitching technique questions, so I’d recommend joining one of the many stitching Facebook groups and asking the very knowledgeable members there. 🙂