Wipe the Seatie!

   

Original Design

So a friend commissioned the following cross stitch pattern for an Extra Life Donation (Play Games, Heal Kids).

This is my first complete pattern attempt and there was a huge learning curve applied. I will attempt to walk you through my pattern design lessons:)

    Lessons learned

Revamp #1

    1. I chose to stitch this model on a 28 ct white linen, as I thought this would help in stitching the fancy letters.  Stitching the border and the flower went really well, however I quickly discovered the quarter and half stitches required were more of a pain in the neck.

Thus I chose to revamp the design to focus on full cross stitches only (see revamp #1, this is a digital image created using the WinStitch design tool).

 

Revamp #2

2. I realized changing the fancy letters to just full cross stitches made the overall design smaller (original was 124 by 152 stitches revamp#1 was 120 by 123 stitches) and more of a square appearance than intended.  

To return the design to a more rectangle pattern I removed the word 'Please' (revamp #2 97 by 123 stitches). 

3. Using the WinStitch program to actually design the final pdf version is a lot more challenging than I thought and after many hours of frustration with trying to create a functional pattern to "sell" I started using a snipping tool and google slides/google draw to design the pattern. The next challenge that rose was inserting the pdf image into the slides in such a way to allow the client to see and follow the pattern. I ended up cutting the image in half with the 'Wipe the Seatie' being repeated on both pattern pages to help the stitcher know where to place the images below the text.

4. my next lesson is one I am hoping my viewers will help me with (with grace and patience as this is a new skill for me to develop).

Long story short I have a huge appreciation for the work any designer undergoes to get their design onto print (paper and digital). So in my excitement for discovering I can too do this (and yes I have a lot more to learn!!) I am sharing this first pattern as a Freebie. I welcome any suggestions for improvement and images of your stitching. The link is provided as a shorten URL and it should be that you will have the option to download and save to your device.

Freebie: Wipe the Seatie!

 My plans in the future is to design a set of smalls next year and will keep you all posted.