Image credits: "Creative Commons Couple" by Kurt Stocker, used under CC BY / Original and Pixelated from original
Lots of people have asked us about how to convert a photo into a cross-stitch pattern.
The good people at www.pic2pat.com have created a super useful free online app to do just that. The lovely image of a pair of parrots above is a good example. This app is best viewed on a computer web browser because some important information is not visible on a mobile phone.
To convert an image to a cross-stitch pattern, follow these steps:
STEP 1: upload your photo to www.pic2pat.com
STEP 2: Select the Following Options
| Floss Brand: | DMC |
| Stitches per inch: | 14 |
| Size: | (See note below) |
| Colour palette: | All colours |
| PDF colour: | All colours |
Then click "Next".
Note on selecting size
For beginners, we recommend choosing a size no larger than 12 x 12 inches. To put things in context, the size of an A4 sheet of paper is about 12 x 8 inches. It is up to you to choose any size you want. But remember the larger the size, the longer it will take to complete the work, and the more thread you will need.
STEP 4 - Choose A Colour Depth
At this step, the app generates a series of cross stitch patterns with different colour depth. They are arranged from most true-to-colour to least true-to-colour. Mouse-over each image to see the number of colours and number of threads (skeins) needed. This information is only visible on a web browser on a computer and may not be not visible on a mobile phone.
It is your choice how many colours (how high the colour depth) you want in the pattern. The more colours there are, the closer the end-result will be to your photo. Of course this also means you will need more colours and skeins of threads (i.e. it will cost more).
The number of skeins is always more than the number of colours because some colours require more than one skein.
STEP 5 - Download the Pattern
Click on the pattern you want to download as a PDF.
We have the thread you need
We can gather the thread and prepare the cross stitch cloth so you can get everything you need to start cross stitching.
Simply send the downloaded pattern to wishiwerestitching@gmail.com. We will calculate the price of the threads and cloth size needed, and send you a quote. See our email address here.
To get an idea of how much you will spend, consider the following prices:
Price of each skein of DMC thread: SGD $1.10
We only use original made-in-France DMC floss (8m skein).
Price of 14 count cloth (every A4-sized area):
estimated ~SGD $25 (depending on the fabric cut size)
We only use original DMC Charles Craft Aida cloth.
You can easily estimate the price of the work yourself by multiplying the number of skeins required by the price of each skein, and then adding the price of the cloth.
After you pay online, we will consolidate the threads and cut the cloth, then send them to you. A local delivery charge of $5 applies.
