bespoke project

[tess_jm]

Hello,
First time poster here, so apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere or should be in a different category.
I'm an experienced cross-stitcher looking for my next big project. However, I can't find any patterns that fit what I want. I've found most designs are quite twee and feature cottages and children, and with me being 24 years old, they don't really appeal to me!
What I'd really like is a huge landscape of dramatic scenery that means a lot to me, such as snowdonia, skye, nz or one of the south Asian countries I've visited. I've tried converting high quality photos using pictopat.com but find problems with shadows and shading.
So I'm wondering if there's anywhere I can go to get a bespoke pattern designed. The bigger and more complex and colourful the better- I'd love different textures and it to include half stitch and french knots. Price and size not an issue as I expect it to take a couple of years and take pride of place on my wall.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Tess

[Fizzbw]

You could start by talking to Skitzzzzz on here, she's a demon at converting photos brilliantly. Pm her.

Have you looked at Golden Kite, HAED, Mystic Stitch etc etc?

Welcome to the forum btw

Niki xxx

[karen4bells]

Great advice, Niki!! Skitzzz is definitely wonderful at converting designs into charts!!

Welcome to the forum, Tess

[NeedleAndFork]

One of the larger Golden Kite patterns may just be your thing. They don't have french knots or bakstitching, but 100ish colors and lots of blends means that they don't really need them either. Take a look at them!

[Rose]

Scarlet Quince has many scenery designs that may have an interest for you. Have you also taken a look at Heaven and Earth Designs???? They do not have as many designs of places but they have some wonderful art.

[Talinellana]

Richard on the forum has created photo conversion software that he's offering for free at the below address, it's got a lot more flexibility than pic2pat and provides so much more detail to the pattern, definitely worth having a look at if you're interested in creating your own pattersn from a photo

http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/downloads/crossstitch.zip" target="_blank

Good luck and I can't wait to see what you're going to stitch!

[Serinde]

Isle of Skye Crafts do some lovely landscapes and definitely no twee.

[tess_jm]

Thank you so much for your suggestions- I don't know anyone else who does crosstitch to ask for advice so this forum is great
Sofar I'm blown away by the patterns on Golden Kite. If I can't find anything on there that feels personal enough then I'll follow the suggestions for converting my own image.
I'm looking forward to browsing the gallery to see some of the projects you guys have completed, but apparently I have to write 7 more posts before I'm allowed in, so I had better get chatting

[millymolly]

I've never tried golden kite myself but there has to be a HAED out there for everyone surely

[rcperryls]

Hello and welcome to the forum from South Carolina! There are so many possibilities that I'm sure you will find the one that is perfect for you. The sites that have been suggested are the ones I would have thought of also. I've never purchased anything from Cross Stitch Collectibles, but the link is to their "Nature" Genre which has some gorgeous charts of classic landscape paintings. Some are definitely a real challenge. I hope that once you make your decision you stay with us and post updates of your work. We love pictures!

Carole

[richardandtracy]

It sounds as if you are prepared to settle for 'Exactly what you want', and nothing else.

Good for you. That's why I wrote my program (linked by Talinellana above), so exact conversions as possible can be made.

I am working on my first complete project using the program, a picture of my wife. It is an image with very smooth gradients which are very difficult on conversion programs.
Original Image:

Converted Image (no blends - the program can now do blended threads too):

Current progress:


Hope this gives you inspiration for converting your own image rather than settling for second best. Furthermore, it's possible to do this for free before committing yourself to a skitzzz conversion.
The thread on the program's development is here: http://www.crossstitchforum.com/viewtop ... =4&t=26159.

Regards,

Richard.

[Allyn]

I've never tried golden kite myself but there has to be a HAED out there for everyone surely

Well, not really. I'm not a HaED fan, but I do agree that Golden Kite and Scarlet Quince, as well as Mystic Stitch and Artecy are worth a look for landscapes. And I absolutely endorse Richard's program for doing your own conversions.

[richardandtracy]

Would you believe it, but I'm not giving Allyn a cent?

[tess_jm]

Thanks Richard - looks an amazing program which has taken a lot of effort! Unfortunately I don't have Winzip, so cannot open it. I'll consider loosening the purse strings to buy it though if i find the perfect image to convert. Have you any guidance on what converts well? Should i avoid blended colours (previous conversion programs have made the sky stripey for example.)

[tess_jm]

Do you think something like this would convert well? (Sorry - not sure how to paste pictures or links here!)

http://cfb8d07d389d8871109e-a0d8273a465 ... 04585c.jpg" target="_blank

[tess_jm]

Or something very colourful like a coral reef?

http://sdsimonson.files.wordpress.com/2 ... -reef1.jpg" target="_blank

[Brekkana]

Or something very colourful like a coral reef?

http://sdsimonson.files.wordpress.com/2 ... -reef1.jpg" target="_blank" target="_blank

Oh, I would love to stitch this! Mr. Richard, for those of us without computers, would you be willing to pdf pictures for us in your spare time? I have an Android tablet that cannot open your file, I am sad to say. One day, I might again have a working computer. Lol. Been saying "one day" for about 4 years now lol!

[Talinellana]

For those who don't have Winzip there's a free program called WinRAR that you can use to open zip files with. You can find it here: -

http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm" target="_blank

Scroll down to English WinRAR and download "WinRAR x86 (32 bit) 5.20" that's for Windows users.

[Allyn]

... Unfortunately I don't have Winzip, so cannot open it. I'll consider loosening the purse strings to buy it though if i find the perfect image to convert. Have you any guidance on what converts well? Should i avoid blended colours (previous conversion programs have made the sky stripey for example.)

OMG, don't pay for a ZIP program. There's too many free ones out there and depending on your OS, you may not need one. This program is open source: http://7-zip.org" target="_blank

I wouldn't avoid blended colors based on experiences you've had with other conversion programs. Other conversion programs -- at least the ones I've used -- don't take blends into account when doing the conversion so it was probably another issue that gave you the stripey sky.

[richardandtracy]

Ahh.
If you don't have a PC with Windows on it, you'll have a problem, as it's a Windows program. Windows XP, 7 & 8 are all able to open zip files through File Explorer in the way they open ordinary directories - but to use the files you need to drag and drop into an uncompressed directory.

Original image:


As for the conversion, how about this?

Program conversion settings:

• Colour space divisions: 8
  Dither Type: Sierra 2-4a
  Blend threads: Yes.
  Number of colours 164 from 183 thread colours.

With no blending, otherwise the same settings, the colour count drops to 141, and the image is:


The best conversion my program can give you is unstitchable (too many colours and there are only 448 symbols), but uses 2692 blends from 300 thread colours, and is as below:


If you don't have a windows PC, so won't be able to run the program, PM me your e-mail address & I'll e-mail you a PDF chart of either/both stitchable images.

Regards,

Richard.