Charm on Wheels: Whimsical Cross Stitch Bus Pattern

When tasked with creating a design for the smalls/ biscornu issue of Down The Rabbit Hole, I found myself pondering various ideas. Should I revisit a floral motif like last year, or venture into new territory? Inspiration struck once again while I was commuting on the bus or train, my sketchbook in hand. As I mulled over ideas, I couldn't help but notice the lacklustre appearance of modern trains – just dreary grey boxes on tracks. However, our buses exuded charm with their vibrant designs. Basically they were more colourful and I could do something with that!

 

Do you find yourself frequently travelling on public transport? Like me, perhaps you rely on it daily. Here, our bus and train system utilizes cards called go cards for fare payment. I couldn't bear to leave mine in its plain plastic sleeve, so I decided to give it a makeover. Transforming it into its own miniature bus seemed fitting – mirroring the cheerful decorations adorning buses in our city.

Each major city in Australia now boasts its own mini bus, capturing the unique colouring and character of its public transportation. Though I empathise with Hobart, where the buses are simply plain white!

Ensuring accuracy in colour representation was crucial, albeit challenging. I scoured online sources for reference photos, striving to faithfully recreate each city's distinct bus design. Of course they are not perfect but they are cute :D Can you tell I'm trying to be a bit over the top right now? I tried to be accurate but it wasn't always easy. 

Now where can you find these designs?

The set of designs is available from Down The Rabbit Hole's Patreon. 

You can sign up for a subscription or just buy the individual magazines. 

I hope you enjoy this little design. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin