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.