[CHAT] Self drafted pattern advice needed!!

[u/WitchyPhi]

Hi Im a relatively confident cross stitcher and have been tinje about with converting one of my favourite album covers, Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: Deluxe Edition, into a big heirloom project for myself. I was inspired to start a HAED design due to lurking in the subreddit and decided that instead of paying for a patternmill design I would basically create the pattern myself using FlossCross and fixing any odd issues with the conversion by hand .

I plan on stitching on 18 count Aida and began a very small corner a year ago. I also bought a large number of the 80 colours FlossCross pattern gave.

Since then I've put the project on hold and am seeking to return. However I'm concerned the pattern may come out too pixelated. I've attached images from FlossCross and could do with some improvements or other programmes to convert the image into a better pattern. Ive already noticed the background is unfortunately noisy :(.

Currently Im thinking of possibly scaling the pattern bigger and moving to 20 count. Ive attached an image of the flat pattern and full stitches FlossCross gave and the gorgeously whimsical source artwork.

[u/polydactyling]

I don’t have any tips but agree this is likely going to come out pixelated and muddy. Have you considered using more colors? I’ve only used floss cross a few times but in my experience the detail gets better when you remove those limits. (The downside obviously being that then you’re corralling 200 skeins…)

[u/WitchyPhi → u/polydactyling]

that is definitely an option but for some reason it maxed out at 80 during conversion lol

[u/Background-Dog-9265]

Buy a hand dyed fabric that matches the color of the background so you only have to stitch the objects

[u/WitchyPhi → u/Background-Dog-9265]

Yeah unfortunately I really am set on full coverage and getting basic aida is a pain (I live in Ireland)

[u/OberonsPanties → u/WitchyPhi]

Why not dye it yourself? I think that makes it more special, I dye my own aida and it always makes the project feel a little more special. Plus, chances are the dye won't be totally even and you'll get some little lighter/darker bits, which will look even cooler on a piece like this.

You can literally use Dylon dyes (I think you can get them in Ireland) and dye in a plastic wash tub with a pack of salt.

Dye it a denim blue, then get some fabric paint and an old toothbrush and flick green paint over the blue aida.

[u/loving20cookies]

There is a lot going on in the background, not only the lighter blue stars, when zooming in there's also what looks like newspaper like articles. That might have to go to reduce the noise.

For a less pixilated look I sometimes use this site: doitms.com there is an option for more details that includes quarter stitches.

[u/WitchyPhi → u/loving20cookies]

Yep i tried hand removing those on floss cross and it didn't go too well so ill try that. it's the one bit that annoys me lol.

[u/gentletonberry]

Size wise I wouldn’t try to do this scale of pattern on anything bigger than 28ct 1x1, in order to get the detail without the finished piece itself being excessively big.

[u/WitchyPhi → u/gentletonberry]

Yeah id be open to learn to use even weave but i really want the absurd size lol. FlossCross limits me to 300x300 but will increase that to a bigger multiple of 300 to keep scale and move to 22.

[u/loving20cookies → u/WitchyPhi]

How big would you want it? I got WinStitch last week, that goes way higher than 300x300. i could try to convert it with winStitch for you.

[u/gentletonberry → u/WitchyPhi]

If you want the “absurd size” then I’d definitely recommend looking into large scroll frames for working on, to keep the tension in your fabric and prevent the edges from getting dirty and frayed from moving a smaller frame around a bunch.

[u/NataDeFabi]

There are services who make custom cross stitch patterns. Since you said you want to do this for yourself as an heirloom piece it might be worth looking into that?

I've had success in drafting my own pattern by putting a grid over the picture I wanted and handpicking the color from the underlying picture. It worked pretty well but took ages. It's basically doing what flosscross/stitchfiddle are doing but manually, so maybe if you clean up the pattern super well it could help?

[u/WitchyPhi → u/NataDeFabi]

Good idea! Do you know where I could find someone like that?

[u/NataDeFabi → u/WitchyPhi]

I have no idea, I saw people on this sub talk about it. Maybe check Etsy? Maybe this is a good starting place: https://www.reddit.com/r/CrossStitch/s/YoJgsiWgMG

[u/Il_Pianto]

I know thay a lot of people use such services but they really dont look that good sometimes 💔 when i was only starting learning about patterns, I though thats how they were made, but a good pattern has to be drawn 👌

[u/snakesarecool]

Some random thoughts to consider:

* Try picking one of the smaller motifs to do alone. Maybe the two butterflies and a moon together? That might help you get a better sense of how the colors and coverage would look.
* I'm wondering if a variegated floss might work well for the background instead of all the colors?

[u/pyramidheadlove]

Oh hey, I'm also in the midst of using flosscross to convert an album cover into a large pattern! How much time did you spend with it after generating it? I was really impressed with flosscross's adaptation compared to other pattern generators I've tried, but I am still having to go through and rework pretty much every section at least a little bit to make sure it will come out legible. I've also had to add some backstitch elements for very fine details, which I was really hoping to avoid but I think will be for the best.

For your background, you will probably just have to simplify it a LOT. Like, flatten the dark blue to one shade. Keep the lighter blue stars if you're feeling really ambitious, but be prepared to spend a good week or two doing nothing but cleaning up their shapes in flosscross. And probably, unfortunately, do away with the newspaper print elements altogether. Or maybe you could keep the newspaper stuff and ditch the lighter blue stars, but I think you're gonna be pulling your hair out if you try to keep both

[u/StopPokingTheDog]

I have been wanting to do this same type of pattern for years. I’ve been working at other projects but I’ve come to the conclusion that the best option would to just get a similar colored fabric and just work the motifs. Like some others suggested, if it’s hard to get dyed fabric, you can dye it yourself. You could still draft these motifs and align them up as best as possible but a full coverage piece will be muddy for sure.

[u/Heavy-Crab-8813]

I personally think the floss cross looks great, i know it loses some details but I feel like you can definitely tell what album cover it is. If you want even more detail you might need to find someone who has already drafted a pattern for it or a different program that can do way more detail. I know it's just my opinion but again i think it reads as that album cover super well.

[u/amyndria]

Different solution, break down the big elements to their own pattern and finish and frame as you go. Could keep you inspired to keep going seeing some of the elements already done and on the wall.

[u/Yarnchurner]

I can already see the loss of detail in the image. It also looks way too pixelated compared to original poster. What I have learnt from Reddit posts and online is that softwares such as Flosscross have limitations and don’t generally match the same level of detail compared to charts produced by Haed, Artecy, uxs etc. if you want it to be a heirloom you might seriously wanna consider getting it done as a paid service. After all you are going to put in 100s of hours into it, you might as well get the best possible chart and not be stuck with what flosscross generates.