crafts for earning and learning
CROSS STIXLES? PIXELLATED STITCHES?
Tulips are common motifs in Islamic art. This cross stitched tulip is one of fifteen flowers embroidered on one end of a linen towel. The work was done in Turkey, probably during the 1920s. You can use your computer to analyze and replicate heirlooms such as these.
It's easy to copy cross stitch on almost any computer drawing program—even in some word processing applications.
• In drawing programs, use the program's tools to create perfectly square boxes. Fill each box with a stitch color or symbol.
• Use the Grid and Snap to Grid features to line the boxes up in exact rows and columns.
• You don't have to draw a new box for each square! Use Copy and Paste commands instead. At first the work will go slowly as you build stitch by stitch. Then the work goes faster as you are able to copy and paste larger and larger sections.
• When you finish the pattern, select All and then Group. This will keep the art stable as you transfer it into other programs. If you are doing a complex pattern with many repeat motifs, group each motif as you complete it. Then just copy, cut and paste.
• In Microsoft Word and other drawing programs, you can use the Table function to create the cross-stitch squares.
How might you turn this idea into money? Why not create a scrapbook of heirloom needlework for school and community fundraising? After all, community cookbooks sell well at such events. A scrapbook called Threads of Our History could include photos and scanned details of fabric originals collected from members of your group. This would be a wonderful way to honor your community's cultural heritage and the women who have helped to sustain it. You could include patterns for reproducing some of the pieces.
HOT COMPUTER ART TIP! You can go from cross stitch to computer as well as the other way around. Cross stitch patterns are excellent sources for computer art.
This cross stitch pattern was drawn in Macromedia Fireworks. Click on the picture for a larger copy that you can print out.
Coming soon!
More pages on cross stitch and other embroidery techniques are in the works. Please keep revisiting this web site.
