Cross stitch designs based on photographs: the Queen Mother

I've got longer discussions of the pros and cons of photographic cross stitch designs in the two earlier entries in this blog.  For now, two examples of designs featuring Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

A 1999 design (ref 76951) from The Craft Collection, sold with chart, thread, 14 count aida.  Design approx 22cm x 38cm.  It has been stitched, with the stitched example illustrated on the cover of the pattern.

from eBay seller designs-in-thread, sold with chart, thread, aida (doesn't specify size) and 'colour picture of the design' (ie. probably hasn't been stitched).  Design approx 8in x 18in.  Cost  £22.95.

There are some nice earlier naive designs - outline faces, for example - on earlier George VI & Elizabeth embroideries.  Sylvia at Linens and Royals (see link in sidebar) has some in her collection from the 1937 coronation, for example click here and click here.

Cross stitch designs based on photographs II: Diana

There are a lot of designs based on Diana photogaphs.  As I said in my earlier entry, it's not too tricky to put a photograph through charting software or a website that does this, and bundle up the resulting chart and photo (plus or minus cloth/aida and threads) and call it a kit.  The designs below do not all seem to have a stitched example.  The photos provided to sell the kits often seem to be a photo of the chart, or a copy of the photo from which the design has been derived, rather than a photo of a completed, stitched example.  As I said in my earlier blog entry about cross stitch designs based on photos, I'd be cautious about stitching a design which has no stitched example.

Generally (for reasons of economy, as aida cloth is about half the price of linen and cheaper too than evenweave, and perceived as easier to stitch), the kits among the designs below are usually aida cloth, and usually 14 count, although a couple are 18 count, which would give greater precision (as it's smaller - harder to stitch unless you have a magnifier).

Icon that she is in the minds of many, Diana may or may not be grateful for the variety in representation/portraiture in stitches in the examples below...

from eBay seller pilgrimbazaar, sold with 14 count aida cloth, thread, needle and chart for £14.99. Design 27cm x 37cm.

from eBay seller pickles_1211, sold with chart, 18 count aida cloth, needle, threads and 'virtual-stitch' picture of the design for $US32.  This seller has a number of such portrait charts.

from eBay seller pickles_1211, sold with chart, 18 count aida cloth, needle, threads and 'virtual-stitch' picture of the design for $US32. Design 8in x 10.52in.

from eBay seller jannstitch, sold as a complete kit with photo, chart, fabric, thread for £19.50. Design 18cm x 26cm

from eBay seller pickles_1211, sold with chart, 18 count aida cloth, needle, threads and 'virtual-stitch' picture of the design for $US32. Design 8in x 10.88in.

From eBay seller rosegems21, for $21.95AU.  Kit with chart, 14 count aida and threads (and it looks like that photo is of a real stitched example).  Design 11.6cm x 15.2cm.

The next two are from the same seller and look a bit mid-century fifties artistish in style.

from eBay seller pickles_1211, sold with chart, 18 count aida cloth, needle, threads and 'virtual-stitch' picture of the design for $US29. Design 8in x 10in.

from eBay seller pickles_1211, sold with chart, 18 count aida cloth, needle, threads and 'virtual-stitch' picture of the design for $US29. Design 8in x 10in.

from eBay seller designer-cross-stitch, sold as a kit with aida cloth, threads, chart and colour image of finished design.

The one below, from a magazine, is the one I think Diana would be least grateful for... (not sure if they had a stitched example of this or just a (possibly hastily put together) chart).

from eBay seller snoopy282880, the chart only was for auction.

This is just a sample of what has been on offer.  Linens and Royals (see link in side bar) shows you more designs based on photos, that Sylvia has stitched - for example, click  here for a couple of other examples, a tiara one and an impressionistic one.

Cross stitch designs based on photographs I: William and Kate

Cross stitch designs based on photographs are currently popular.  The availability of computer charting, computer scanning and similar technological possibilities has contributed to this style of cross stitch design.

These can pose a greater challenge than a traditional sampler, as the cross stitch covers most or all of the linen/aida/cloth: compared to traditional samplers which have much larger areas of 'white' or unstitched space.  This dense coverage, plus the subtle shifts from thread colour to thread colour, require significant skill and time from the stitcher.

A number of the ones on sale on eBay seem to lack a stitched example.  The site where I made the Queen's Jubilee design (see the earlier blog entry) lets you upload photos for charting.  You can specify how many colours (and thus the level of subtlety in colour gradation/complexity) you wish to use.
It's a quick enough thing to put a photo through charting software and bundle up a chart and threads, but without a stitched example you don't really know how it's going to look.  I'm finding as I sew the jubilee design that I'm amemding colours and stitch locations as I go.

So if all you see is a photo and no example, I'd be cautious about stitching: almost all have some clever form of wording in that there is a 'computer image of the design' or colour chart or something that is NOT a photo of a real stitched sample.  (Actually, by and large I'd avoid stitching these myself anyway, as they are more complex than I enjoy and take a long time).

Some examples based on William and Kate:

This John Clayton design for Heritage Crafts was for William and Kate's wedding, sold as a kit with either 27 count Zweigart evenweave or 14 count aida cloth, together with chart and threads (and it clearly has been stitched, the photo is of a finished example).  Design 22cm x 32cm.  It is portraitish and realistic in style, but doesn't seem to be solely based on one photograph, as the designs below are, but on an artistic interpretation .  Linens and Royals (see link in the blog list on the right) has stitched this kit - see Sylvia's blog for photos of the work in progress and complete.  She also has examples of other royal family members commemorated in cross stitch in this style.

This one was given away with the magazine Cross Stitch Collection (issue 195), and combines photos with a traditional coat of arms.  Designed by Maria Diaz.  The sample was stitched on 28 count evenweave:  239x183 stitches, 43cm x 33cm. 

from eBay seller designs-in-thread, sold with chart, thread, aida (doesn't specify size).  Design approx 12.8in x 15.1in.  Cost  £38.95.

from eBay seller designs-in-thread, sold with chart, thread, aida (doesn't specify size).  Design approx 9.3in x 10.4in.  Cost  £22.95.

Another royal wedding image is being sold as a pattern for experienced cross stitchers.

The ebay auction from seller rememberingmom2 shows only this photograph, no example of a stitched version of the design.  The design measures nearly 17in x 28in,  300 x 499 stitches for £16.99.

But if you really want to fill a wall with a design almost a metre wide:

from eBay seller designs-in-thread, sold with chart, thread (99 colours), aida (doesn't specify size).  Design approx 31.6in x 24.5in.  Cost  £139.95.

Here's my favourite (but not because I'll stitch it, make it or own it):

Notice anything?  Like, um, it looks like Photoshopping gone 'orribly wrong?  Take another look at the suit (not uniform), the dress, her hair, the bouquet, her face.... eBay seller pickles_1211 had this for sale: chart, thread, 18 count aida for $US36.  Wonder if it was originally a European royal bride?  Also, it's um, a tad not-for-company courteous in the trouserish area....! (not the cleverest/most subtle charting, is it?)

There are lots more William and Kate designs - pretty much all of them looking like scan and chart and package it operations rather than design, stitch then package in the traditional style.  Just search on William Kate cross stitch on eBay to find more.

There are (unsurprisingly) a significant number of Diana photograph-based cross stitch designs, so I'll put some of those in a separate blog entry.

For my taste, I'd rather the more naive style of faces/portraits in earlier samplers and embroideries to these attempts at realism; but there is no doubt of the trend and its popularity.

If you know of any portraitish William and Kate designs, in particular ones with stitched examples, please do add them to the comments with links.

Elizabeth II: coronation traycloth with crown and flowers

A little traycloth commemorating the coronation of Elizabeth II, that was on eBay.  I do wonder with these if they were used or just made and put away for a 'good' occasion that never came.  It looks as though it was done using a transfer design.

If you can shed any light on this - was it a transfer printed traycloth which came with the delicate crochet edging already worked, I wonder? - design source, who sold this etc: then please leave a comment.

Elizabeth II silver jubilee sampler from the Royal School of Needlework

The Royal School of Needlework often designs samplers/embroideries/needlework pieces as patterns and/or kits to commemmorate royal occasions.

Here is a design created for Elizabeth II's silver jubilee in 1977:

This example was for sale on eBay, partially worked as you can see.

Below is a different example, the work finished, also from an auction.

I'm not sure where else you can buy RSN kits at the time when they are current apart from in their online shop; but they do have an online shop.  Click on the link above to their site and follow the shop link to find it.  Commemorative kits likely have a limited run and when they're sold out, they're gone.

The Royal School of Needlework has, of course, a long association with the royal family.  Their most famous recent work being on Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

Elizabeth II: coronation embroidery with Coach, Abbey and Palace II

In the first blog entry called

Elizabeth II: coronation embroidery with Coach, Abbey and Palace

I showed this example:

Here's another example from a recent eBay auction, demonstrating as this usually does that the individuality of the embroiderer shows through, even with the same pattern:

...and a third example:

You can see a fourth example on the blog Linens and Royals, by clicking here.



If you know of the source of this design - I'm guessing it was a transfer, so it could have come from a newspaper offer or magazine or a thread/pattern company - please do leave a comment.

Accession : diamond jubilee

For all the boaty fiery celebratory things which will happen later this year, I thought I should note that today is the actual anniversary of Elizabeth II's accession, and therefore the precise diamond jubilee date.

Elizabeth II: coronation traycloth

A rather nice traycloth for the coronation of Elizabeth II which sold on eBay.  I like that font.

Elizabeth II : diamond jubilee (VI) : more designs

With the year begun, more diamond jubilee designs for stitchers to make are emerging.

Riverdrift House has added Windsor Castle to its charming, bright range of jubilee samplers (Happy and Glorious and Buckingham Palace have featured in earlier entries on this blog.  Sandringham and Balmoral to come).

Description from the eBay.co.uk listing:

Brand new modern square sampler design for Windsor Castle, to celebrate our Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 by Riverdrift House.  Quick and fun to stitch, our design includes the castle flying the Royal Standard - with St George's Chapel, the Order of the Garter with motto 'Honi Soi Qui Mal Y Pense' and Garter Stars, a Royal gondola with the queen's swans upon the Thames, deer from the Great Park, arms of Eton College, a Union Jack, the Royal Standard, Castle Guards, crowns, 'all the Queen's horses' (Windsor Greys) ...and some Royal Corgis..

  Being sold as a brand new kit and shown in a border to give the look when framed as a picture (or made up into a cushion).  

Best quality materials include white 14 count Zweigart Aida fabric, Anchor 6-stranded embroidery threads, clear chart, instructions and a gold-plated needle.

Size of finished embroidery approx 25 cm / 10 inches square.

Free postage to UK addresses - kits are send in a board envelope by Royal Mail, First Class Large Letter post, either same or next day (following payment).  £3.00 to post via Air Mail abroad

Riverdrift House website is here, Riverdrift House on ebay.co.uk is here. 

British designer Emma Bridgewater whose designs have featured on crockery and textiles and Agas-with-dots has a design coming out in Cross Stitcher magazine.

It will be in issue no 250, due to be published in the UK on 22nd February 2012.  I rather like this one.  It feels vintage and fresh.  I read this magazine via Zinio as a digital magazine, so it will land on my device on that day in February.  You can buy single issues or subscriptions via Zinio; or if you're not in the UK, wait a couple of months till it lands in the newsagencies.

Tempest Tapestry, designs by Catherine Gedny, have a small and a large diamond jubilee tapestry cushion in their range.

Both are available as kits or charts: the tapestry is not printed with the design, so it's like counted cross stitch to do (ie you have to concentrate rather than relax and colour in as you can with printed tapestries/needlepoint!). It's an interesting use of the Union Jack, with subtle diamonds/stars on it.   I've seen that curlywurly font overused in school projects (it's a girls' fave) so I must say that for me, it's not one I especially like.  I think my taste in patriotic samplers leans a bit more towards the classic, at least in font styles.  But this may well hit the mark with younger stitchers.

Description of the smaller cushion:

JUBILEE 2012 Mini Cushion
* Finished size approx 7.00" x 7.00" (18 x 18cm)
* White Zweigart Canvas 12 hpi
* Anchor Tapisserie Wools (5 colours)
* Black and white symbol chart (canvas is not printed)
* Tapestry needle and full instructions
This project is a delightful way to celebrate Her Majesty's
Diamond Jubilee.  Wools include a shimmering silver yarn for working the highlights.
This pattern is worked in half-cross stitch.
KIT                                                                       CHART ONLY
£18.00  (+ p & p)                                                  £9.00

Description of the larger cushion:

JUBILEE 2012
* Finished size approx 14.1" x 10.8" (35.8 x 27.4cm)
* White Zweigart Canvas 10 hpi
* Anchor Tapisserie Wools (7 colours)
* Black and white symbol chart (canvas is not printed)
* Tapestry needle and full instructions
This project is a delightful way to celebrate Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee.  Wools include a shimmering silver yarn for working the highlights.
This pattern is worked in half-cross stitch.
KIT                                                                       CHART ONLY
£35.00  (+ p & p)                                                  £15.00

If you want something hand-embroidered without doing it yourself, in the British patriotic sphere, Jan Constantine will usually offer something.  She has a number of items for the Diamond Jubilee including cushions, lavender bags, a banner/bunting and tea/coffee cosies:

Find all Jan Constantine Diamond Jubilee items here.

Cushions, found here.  Prices range from  £66.50 up to £108.00 .

This is the next (and not the last, I suspect) of my blog entries about diamond jubilee designs.  You can use the jubilee tag below to find the other entries.

If you come across other diamond jubilee designs not yet blogged here, please let me know (eg. via the comments - just sign up to Blogger, it's free and I've had no  hassles, and then you can comment).

Coronation gowns

Plays With Needles set herself a needlework challenge she inspired by Elizabeth II's coronation gown.  Her blog entries about it include historical photos as well as photos of the work she stitched.

Welcome your Majesty : the start of the project
Becoming a Queen: Part I has general photos, royal orders etc
Becoming a Queen: Part II has some fabulous close-up photos of  Elizabeth II's coronation gown.

World War I commemorative stitched piece

This odd little cross-stitched piece was on eBay several times in 2011 with a starting price of 75GBP (not selling and thus being relisted - it's a high price, in my opinion) with the simple title of "Needle Work".  By the dates, a best guess would be it commemorates the end of World War I, although it's 1914 and 1919, not 1914 and 1918.  It's a curious mix of flags - if the one at top left in red/yellow/black is intended as the German flag, it's not just the flags of one side or the other, but both (Italy and Japan both joined the war on the side of Britain/France/Russia, unlike WW2). All of Ireland was still part of the UK then (partition came after the war).  The size (of counted cloth and space allocated to each flag) made the Union Jack a tad tricky to do.  More than one country with a flag there had a monarch, so it's not clear if the crown in the centre is a generic crown or meant for one country's monarch in particular (German Kaiser? English King?). 

My best guess is that it's an individual stitcher's piece rather than a pattern.  It's a very simple grid layout, and I find it difficult to imagine that a pattern including the German flag would have had wide appeal.  Peace samplers from the end of World War II that I've come across that are of British origin have focused entirely on the Allies, with no reference (beyond VE/VJ day dates) to the enemy side.  I have seen another piece worked on the same type of background, a squarish rectangle of fabric with  a ?handmade woollen fringe.  Possibly intended as a table centre?  or cushion cover?  The eBay listing gave no information beyond "Nice quality work".  It was located in the UK, but that's no guarantee that it was made there.

So, a curious piece, documented here.  If you know more, please do leave a comment.

Link to seller 229fraste.

Elizabeth II : diamond jubilee : classes at the RSN, jubilee design

RSN Diamond Jubilee design: Goldwork version

RSN Diamond Jubilee design: Stumpwork version

The Royal School of Needlework has several classes in 2012 to make a jubilee design, and to make a fabric casket to feature the design.  Here's a quote from their website:

During Diamond Jubilee year 2012 we introduce a celebratory Jubilee design which can be worked in three techniques – stumpwork, goldwork or blackwork. All designs are suitable for beginners onward. Come and work your goldwork design and in August there’s the option to mount your embroidery onto an heirloom Jubilee Casket. Material costs are not included in class fees. Costs range from £20.00 to £45.00 depending on the complexity of design and materials used.

More details can be found on the Royal School of Needlework courses page - click here.   Most of the classes are being offered in the UK, but the goldwork one also has a San Francisco date listed.  So far I can't find a blackwork image or an image of the casket to share/document here.  With embroidery being the focus of the RSN, it's unsurprising that these are using embroidery techniques, rather than the cross-stitch more commonly found in commercial kits and wide-circulation craft magazines; an embroidered commemorative needlework is likely to be rarer, in future, than a cross-stitched one.

Unlike other designs, these are provided in the context of a class, a group activity.  Partly because they are about learning a specific embroidery technique; but I wonder how few (very few, I'd guess) British patriotic samplers were stitched in a communal context, whether a class or an embroidery group?  It may well be that one in a craft/stitching group might be stitching a commemorative piece while others were doing their own individual choices; but how often would you find a group where all were simultaneously engaged on the same British patriotic sampler at the same time?  I'd imagine that would to be very very rare.  The imprimatur of the Royal School of Needlework, and the focus of learning a new technique both skew the acceptability and audience of this class, I suspect.  I've added "classes" as a tag to this blog, but doubt it will get much of a workout...

Although via social media you can see individuals congregating to share common stitching projects, the internet making light of distance.  Via blogs or Facebook or photos uploaded to Flickr, you could see during the royal wedding 'season' that people were sharing their work in the context of being part of a group making a particular design (eg. Jacqui Pearce's Will and Kate sampler from Cross-Stitcher magazine).  You don't have to be physically together to be part of a group, as the internet and social media demonstrate.  It will be interesting to see if these show people in a collective way making the same diamond jubilee designs. 

Outside the narrow field of British patriotic samplers, there are plenty of online examples of people distant from each other collectively working on the same project.  When popular craft bloggers such as Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy release a new design, the blog comments are full of chat as people make their own version; she even offers an online desination for people to share their versions (through a series of Flickr groups).

Please let me know of any links/images I can share specifically related to people working on the same British patriotic design as a group - whether it's everyone working to produce a single final work, or each person working on their own version separately.

Elizabeth II : diamond jubilee : Girl Guide challenge

Further to the last blog post, I was interested to find that the UK Girl Guides have a Diamond  Jubilee challenge, which includes this:

Cross stitch a sampler or book mark to celebrate the jubilee
(This could count towards your Brownie or Guide Craft Badge).

I wonder what will be made?  Let me know if you discover any, or anywhere online that photos are being shared.

The knowledgeable Sylvia at Linens and Royals tells me that this  coronation design may well have been promoted through the Girl Guides:

See more examples by clicking here.  I wonder if that's why this one is often found signed (unusual for British patriotic samplers).  And the workmanship on examples of this design is often less fine than you generally find.  We agreed that it seems likely to have been distributed as a transfer already printed on fabric - the examples we've seen have just enough fabric, but only just.

Elizabeth II : Diamond Jubilee (V) : cross-stitch

Some more cross-stitch designs and samplers with Diamond Jubilee themes have come to my attention.

After their Happy and Glorious design (which I've already blogged about) Riverdrift House have released the first of a Diamond Jubilee foursome, each one with a Royal building as its design focus.  This one is Buckingham Palace.  To come are Windsor Castle, Balmoral and Sandringham.  I'm guessing this is the foursome mentioned on the website, four individual designs on 14 count (on which the designs measure 10in square) and then later issued as a single sampler on 18 count. Find this on eBay or through the Riverdrift House site.

Florashell did at least one royal wedding design last year, and they have three designs available as kits to celebrate the Golden Jubilee.  One of which uses what looks like the same royal coat of arms design, but with different wording (and a font I'm not especially fond of, it's a tad ditsy for my taste).

They also have a little quickie design, and a detailed portrait of the Queen.    Probably available in shops, but you can also find them at the Florashell eBay shop.

Elizabeth II: Greenwich Golden Jubilee embroidery

In the year of Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee, you might like to take a moment to view and learn more about the golden jubilee embroidery made in Greenwich.

Explore the image in greater detail here:
http://www.greenwichembroideries.org.uk/pagejubilee.html

Read about its genesis here:
http://www.greenwichembroideries.org.uk/pagejubileestory.html
and its contents here:
http://www.greenwichembroideries.org.uk/pagejubileecontent.html

Read about the embroiderers and who sewed which element/s here:
http://www.greenwichembroideries.org.uk/pagejubileeteam.html