Hello World: How I Came to Cross Stitch Pattern Designing

So how did I become a cross stitch pattern designer? Of course like most others (well, I suppose it was the same for most other designers) I started from cross stitching.

I remember clearly those astonishing blue eyes of a cutie donkey I met in a local shop when choosing some yarn with my Mom. It was a small cross stitching kit, really the one for children. I started to explore the whole new world for me: how to start the stitchery, how to secure the thread, how to pick up the right hoops... I never thought someday it will transform into something truly amazing, something much more than mere hobby.

Frankly speaking, I got interested in pattern designing practically right from the start. Just after two or three cross stitching projects I googled for the ways to create the design of your own. The 'quick' means using Photoshop were not my option. I was looking for the 'real' methods, used by real designers. I tried myself in the pro software, but the result wasn't always my dream. The simple convertion of the picture to the pattern seemed uneffective: too many colours, not so much detail, eerie huge size... And when I tried to hand-draw my very first patterns, it was a little bit childish.

I never gave up. I tried to draw, and I was keeping on searching for the answers on how to create a beautiful cross stitch pattern. A brilliant moment came when I found my Teacher (that's right, the Teacher with a large T letter) Natalia Orekhova. Her designs were gorgeous, so artfully done! I entered her courses on pattern designing. What happened after a hard month of theory and practice?

I created my very first really beautiful designs! I learned how to work with backstitch, how to add volume to the objects, how to highlight the foreground and many other things! I was able to export my patterns correctly (oh, this is challenging at first, believe me). What's more, I got in touch with many talented creative people and got new friends!

The owl above became my first project from the course I'm proud of. It's simple, but it deffinetely have character. In fact, it's typical me in the morning. Oh, and look at the cat's fluffy tail! I'm absolutely in love with it! The last but not the least - here comes my third project. My dream castle!

That's the beginning of the story of Polina The Designer) If you are interested in cross stitching and pattern designing, if you are creative and eager to know more about patterns and software, I invite you to join me in this journey to the valley of creativity!

#crossstitching #blog #xstitching #pattern