Fairy Tales in Stitches Week: Illustrators

These days with pattern making software and skilled rendering by knowledgeable people, converting photos and illustrations into cross stitch patterns is easier and thus popular. Several illustrators of fairy tales have had their illustrations licensed and converted into patterns by Heaven and Earth Designs, including Scott Gustafson, Ruth Sanderson, and Kinuko Y. Craft. Fantasy illustrations by James Christensen and others are also available.

I always debate these patterns when I see them. They are beastly to sew with their tiny details and they can easily be bought as posters and framed, often offering greater detail in poster form. However, there is the lush appearance of the sewn patterns, the tapestry effect and the unique quality of each piece. So I'm not choosing any of these for my winter project, but I am tempted nevertheless. Of course, they are also recommended for 25ct fabric--which means 25 x's per inch. That's painstaking detail and the finished projects look quite lovely.

Of course, if I were to attempt one, I would choose Twelve Dancing Princesses. I'm just not sure if I would pick Sanderson or Craft's for I love both for various reasons. The one at the top of this post is Sanderson's, by the way, and the one below is by Craft.


Here are some of patterns based on Gustafson's illustrations:




Here is Faery Tales by Christensen. I plan to do a post on him sometime soon, but I can't omit this one which is really quite fun.


Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and am a satisfied customer.