Designing for Counted Thread: Part I

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Jan 1, 2001

Many of us have thought about designing our own needlework, either for our pleasure,s for gift-giving, or just to change a design element such as the colour of the dress on the main subject in the piece. Perhaps you would also enjoy designing needlwork for publication. Imagine, your own byline with "Designed by" in front of it! I'll be writing a three-part series on desgining counted thread designs. In this, the first part, I will discuss research. The second part will cover the design process, and the third part covers selling or self-publishing your finished design.

Research in the design business is important even if you are already an accomplished designer, because you need to keep up with colour trends. As a beginning designer, you can learn much by looking at the work of other needlework designers. I went to Books-A-Million last spring and spent quite some time in their vast magazine section. I noted what colors were most commonly chosen, which design the magazine put on the front cover, what the designs themes were, etc. I purchased several of the best magazines to use in research at home. The ones I chose were:

Stitcher's World The Cross-Stitcher (http://www.craftideas.com) For the Love of Cross Stitch (http://www.leisurearts.com) Creative Needle (http://www.creativeneedlemag.com) Just Cross Stitch (http://www.just-crossstich.com) Crazy for Cross Stitch! (http://www.crazyforcrossstitch.com)

When I got home with this stack of magazines, I looked at their designs in more detail and made a chart for myself so that I could try to identify what designs were most used by that publication and how they photographed the stitched models. For example, I wrote:

Just Cross Stitch (02-01 issue)

4 Teacups - sepia tones - framed - cross stitch (xs) 2 Phrases - simple design - framed - xs 1 Rose - sachet - xs 1 Floral w/ monogram - keepsake box - xs 1 Floral - towel - xs 1 Floral - pillow - xs 1 House and Garden - framed - specialty 2 Floral - tea cozy - xs

There were more designs in that issue, but the above gives you an example of a chart to use for your research. I would suggest that you go to the magazine websites listed above and see if they posted any previous issues or at least their table of content. The more information from one magazine, the better. For example, I can presume that Just Cross Stitch magazine is open to mostly only cross stitch and floral designs. Or was it the time of year that prompted so many florals? The other issues in the year will give you an idea of what this particular magazine mostly likes. That in turn, gives you an idea of what their subscribers mostly like. You are basically having the magazine do the research for you. They will know from experience and trial-and-error what designs stitchers want. In Part Three of this series I will tell you how to get more information from the magazines, through a submission query letter to them.

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The copyright of the article Designing for Counted Thread: Part I in Needlework is owned by Lori Seaborg. Permission to republish Designing for Counted Thread: Part I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.