Northern Lights | Mr X Stitch

Last year, while working away on the forthcoming Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch, I had the exciting opportunity to create a series of cross stitch patterns for DMC. I was thrilled to be asked, as I've been a DMC user for years and it was a great chance to offer up designs that might reflect my attitudes and explore some of the more interesting threads that DMC has to offer. While in this process I was reminded of the difference between patterns that are acceptable on the internet, and those that work for the "real world" and it's an important lesson for budding cross stitch designers everywhere. If people are going to buy a kit in a shop, the quality of design and the experience they'll have in stitching the project are paramount; on the internet you can get away with all kinds of designs and play to smaller audiences, but when you're designing for a potentially global audience, it's interesting to see how far you can push things. Suffice to say some of my earliest drafts did not make the cut! With plenty of discussion between DMC and I, we came up with three key themes for the designs, and it's my pleasure to share the first batch with you now! Sometimes the sky is just awesome, and we decided to capture that awesomeness using DMC Light Effects threads to add a bit more pizzazz! Savannah Sunset is bursting with reds and yellows, with some acacia trees in silhouette to add context. Stitch it on black aida and you can let the colours do the talking. Similarly with Northern Lights, where the Aurora Borealis sweeps across the sky in front of a small group of fir trees. There's an epic sense to these skylines and I sincerely hope that you enjoy stitching them and displaying them in your homes! You can get these patterns from all good retailers and I hope you like them. I enjoyed the process and how it pushed me as a designer, and I think they'll be interesting to stitch, with the Light Effects colours adding that bit of shine. They're quite big designs, and will take some time to complete. Maybe you should get both of them so that you can switch between colour palettes when you get bored of one of them! I'd love to hear your thoughts about the designs - feel free to comment at the bottom! Full disclosure - the links included in this post are affiliate ones for Amazon (but feel free to click them to earn us a buck or two!).