Cross Stitchers! Need your input about designs, please?

Question

I am a photographer and artist, and am beginning the process to interpret some of my work into cross stitch designs to sell. I would appreciate the answers to a couple questions, if you would!

What complexity do you prefer? (i.e. easy, relaxing, moderate, complex, very complex)

What size do you most like stitching? (stitch count or inch/cm of finished design)

Do you prefer buying just the design, or full kits?
Do you prefer buying a single design or a collection?

Preferred subjects?
Average number of colours in a design?

What in a design would most draw you to it?
... or cause you not to want to do it?

Thank you in advance for input! Greatly appreciate it!
.

Answer 1

1) moderate to complex
2) finished design 8x10 to fit in standard frames inexpensively
3) just the design and fabric (not preprinted)
4) usually single design, but often in a theme group
5) iris flowers, cats or other themes that match current themes for other decorating in the same room
6) 12-15 colors/colours
7) something that catches my eye, particularily from a distance

My favorite place to purchase designs is an ebay seller who does what you're proposing.
http://stores.ebay.com/Cross-Stitch-Pattern-Creations_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
Her prices are very reasonable (I feel), I like her patterns and themes as they are both interesting and current. She starts with photographs and then simplifies the number of colors to work on canvas. Her service also include a software program for printing them at home - another option you might consider.

You can either consider her competition or a business model. Perhaps other answerers can look at her offerings and give you more feedback based on what she's doing (price to value, theme, complexity, etc).

Answer 2

I prefer moderate to complex, I don't like having to work on a project for years before I can finish it.

10 x 10 in

I prefer buying the full kit, its just easier that way. I prefer buying just a single design, but if I liked a collection enough I would buy the collection.

I tend not to stitch people, I prefer objects, animals, or scenes.
I don't really care how many colors there are in a piece, I do tend to like ones that have a variety of different colors rather than just a few. However, it really depends on how much I like the design, I have ones with only a few colors and ones with 30+ colors.

I can't really answer this, I just know it when I see it, but sometimes I like them more if I can relate to them in some way. For example, I found one with a violin and loved it because my friend loves violins and music so I stitched it for her.
I wouldn't want to do a piece if it looked sloppy, for instance if the edges and lines didn't flow smoothly but rather were blocky. Also I might not want to do a piece if I couldn't see an example of it when it is stitched. I like to have a good idea of how it will look when it is finished. I won't do stamped cross-stitch, either, I prefer counted cross-stitch.

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

Answer 3

I prefer moderate to complex designs 8 x 10 or less and like to stitch on 28 count linen. I rarley buy kits if I have the choice.

The number of colors is important to me. I don't enjoy stitching a design that is too photo realistic. Where it's one stitch here and one stitch there. I feel like I spend all of my time threading needles. 3 shades of a color gives enough detail. Over 30 colors in a design and I start having second thoughts about stitching it.

I prefer fantasy & magic designs, but also love seasonal designs.

Good luck with your designs!!

Answer 4

I find moderate-to-complex to *be* relaxing.

I usually work with 18sts/inch, more often finer than coarser. Complete design area? 5"x7" to 10"x14"

I prefer buying the design ... and I prefer PDF files to hard copy.

Unless the items are a set-in-use (like needlework accessories), I prefer single designs to collections.

Considering modern sources, rather than public-domain, I'm easily lured by non-Easter rabbits/hares and by mermaids. I've also recently purchased charts with dragonflies, not dragons, dragonflies.

My last 6 projects had 60-150 colors each, I guess that would average >100.

I must see myself in the design somehow. That's mot going to help estimate mass markets, but, I purchased one chart after the designer offered to tweak hair color from strawberry blonde to much darker tones, just for my copy.

I find extensive back-stitch and partial x-stitches to be tension-builders. I cross-stitch for relaxation. I'd never intended to begin a collection of Wentzler UFOs, but it worked out that way.

To test and to build markets, I suggest offering small sections of designs as freebie teasers (with reminder of copyright), pick a section large enough for a bookmark. It will enable potential customers to test-stitch a portion of a design before purchase. Even if most don't purchase, you'll become more known among stitchers.

Answer 5

I like a variety of projects. I've worked on simple projects that I finished very quickly and I've worked on complicated projects that take a minimum of a few months. There are stitchers of every skill level and motivation level, so I don't think you should be as concerned about the complexity of the projects. Unless they're REALLY complex, you should be able to find plenty of stitchers.

Size is another relatively unimportant aspect, although I will say that the smaller the finished piece, the less complicated it should be. I don't want a small piece to have 50 different colors with a stitch or two of each color.

I hate outlining, mostly because I make myself do it square by square so it looks nicer and neater. I won't NOT do a project that has a lot of outlining, but that's usually the one that gets set aside first when I get frustrated or bored with outlining.

When I started, I liked buying kits because it was easier. But now I much prefer to buy charts and pick my own fabric and floss. I've been stitching for a few years now and I'm comfortable making changes, changing fabric size, etc. I do a lot of personalized work as gifts, so it's important to me to have flexibility

Usually I prefer single designs, though I have purchased collections to get a few of the designs in the collection. I'm also a sucker for finishing out a collection of pieces. For example, I started working on the Victoria's Sampler Hearts of America, which is a collection of hearts for each state, and now canadian provinces and foreign countries. It starts with one or two here and there and sooner or later, I've got the whole collection. In a way it's nice because I can buy as many or as few of the pieces I want, but there are patterns that are related to it that I can group together if I choose.

Subject matter is relative. I've kept very few of the pieces I've made - the ones I have kept are usually Celtic in nature. Most of my work is for gifts, so I look for subjects and projects that relate to the person I am giving it to. For example, I had friends that used a Bible quote prominently in their wedding, so for their wedding gift, I made a piece featuring that quote. For friends with new babies, I try to match the theme of the nursery. I appreciate projects I can personalize, so leaving space for personalization and providing an alphabet is a selling point for me.

I honestly don't care for the patterns that are digitally generated from photos - I think they look weird and I wouldn't do one myself. But a nicely rendered photo that is translated in a way that makes sense to cross stitch is nice. My husband works on more photographic looking pieces, while I tend to chose more design looking pieces

I don't think much about colors because I know I can change them if I want to. However, I like all the colors to be necessary to the design and not have to buy a whole skein of floss for a few stitches.

And I absolutely agree with seeing a stitched model of the pattern before I purchase it. I have purchased them without models, but I am much more inclined to buy if I can see how it looks stitched up.

Answer 6

1. Moderate to complex
2. I usually stitch large projects, but also smalls samplers and "stitcher's toys" like biscornus, or needlebooks.
3. I don't like the kits with the bunch of threads w/o brand, like Dimensions or Bucilla kits. I prefer to buy kits with the complete skeins, charms, beads and crystals, like for example, in europeanxs.com.
4. I prefer a single design, but If I really like a designer, I'll try to buy most of his/her designs
5. I don't like religious or animals...
6. 20-50, depends of the design and the size
7. I need to find it beautiful, perhaps a garden, an old sampler or a mermaid, if I love the design I'd probably stitch it.

Answer 7

1 complex
2 finished design
3 full kits and about a pair or a three
4 I dont know