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

 

 

Realising how much time keeps passing

Everytime I turn around I find that so much time has passed I'm not actually sure what I have and haven't shared here anymore! Life has been very busy. I started a new job in December which is what I was doing but a little bit more but it's about learning all the new systems, which they do everything differently!!! Then my Grandpa passed away in mid December so that was On top of that my partner ended up cutting half the index finger off his left hand. That made for an interesting January and then time just kept passing really quickly. 

I have been stitching, though it seems I only have time to stitch my own designs. My grandma gave me some money for christmas so I spent it on some fancy metallic watercolours and OMG I am having sooooo much fun painting!!! I've then been turning some of those paintings into cross stitch patterns. I can't share a lot of them but I will share what I can. More about them at the end of the post!

I made this cute little Easter dragon for the autumn edition of down the rabbit hole. I called it Easter Surprise because you don't expect to find a dragon in your carefully decorated Easter egg :D

All this from a quick little sketch I did. I didn't even add colour to the sketch I just fell in love with it.

 

I also created some cute little dancing girls for the latest smalls magazine. These little cuties just make me happy. I finished them with a felt backing glued onto a magnet and they are currently on my fridge. They just make me happy looking at them each day.   

I'm also working on the winter design but of course I can't show that one yet because the magazine isn't out yet. So I also can't show the painting I did to inspire it. But there is a lot of white which you would expect in a winter design.

Hannah is growing up fast she has just turned 2 and it's like a tiny cyclone has hit our house every day! She is into everything but she also just loves to help. We have what's called a learning tower which is essentially a stool with a wooden cage area for her to stand up in so she can't fall backwards. But every night when I'm cooking dinner she will climb up there and help me to cook. She can't do much but she likes to feel like she is helping. 

Here are some of the pictures I've done while playing with my watercolours. The colours are from Chelsea Venz Art a lady on the gold coast who makes handmade watercolours. I am so in love with the effects these give a piece of art.

I think I will turn this father's day owl into a cross stitch eventually but not sure when. Let me know if you want it sooner rather than later. It won't be going to a magazine. So would go straight onto my etsy. 

This sea monster while cute as ... is too much like the character from the drawing book to be able to be used in my cross stitch but I will see if I can do a variation like I did with the dragon that I can turn into cross stitch.

Here is a photo of the lovely watercolours. I want to get more of her stuff but that will have to wait. 

So Happy Stitching Everyone, 

Caitlin

p.s. I hope it's not too long before my next update but this is me and life is busy!

What do you actually NEED to start cross stitching?

I'm getting this question a lot in my Facebook Group and I wanted to make a post that I can refer back to each time. There is one thing I love about cross stitching and it's that the threshold to enter the hobby is really low. You don't actually need a whole lot to start. Like with all hobbies you can start to fall down rabbit holes and spend quite a bit on luxury supplies and tools but none of that is needed to start. 

So what do you actually NEED to start with?

There are only 3 items you actually need to start with. 

Fabric, Threads and Needle.

That's ALL!! You don't need the 30 gadgets that everyone says you do!

But now I'm going to go into more detail about what fabric etc. and a couple of other items that you may want sooner rather than later. But the entry point for stitching is very low.You truly do only NEED to buy 3 items.

Fabric

What fabric do you need? You will hear people talking about a fabric called 14ct Aida. This is the fabric most commonly used by beginners and beyond. You can find this at all good craft stores. You will also hear people talking about Evenweave fabric but that isn't beginner friendly.

 

Aida fabric has easy to see squares.

If you are looking at getting a younger child into cross stitch I would recommend plastic canvas rather than a fabric. Because you can't pierce the plastic and it's even easier to tell where the holes are. 

Threads

The threads you use for cross stitching are called six stranded cotton. The most popular brand you'll hear about is DMC but Anchor, Madeira and Sullivans are all reputable brands. You don't stitch with all the strands at one time. Usually only 2 strands are used on 14 count fabric but I will talk about this another time. Threads come in many colours and patterns will state which colours you should use. Depending on the pattern you can change it up to suit your tastes or the colours you have available in your stash. Don't believe that you must buy exactly what is written on a pattern though I do recommend that you understand some basic colour theory before changing too much. My most recent pattern the Valentine Owls have two colours for each owl plus eyes and a beak. You could use any available yellow for the beak you just need to make sure that it contrasts enough with the colour you choose for the owl, so too light/dark may not work. But it's also 4 stitches so don't go out of your way to buy the exact shade of yellow!

Needle

A cross stitch needle is usually a blunt tipped needle that is less likely to pierce the threads/fabric in a way you don't want it to. I personally prefer a size 26 tapestry needle. I like the size of these and find the slightly thinner needle easier to hold. I will use a size 28 on smaller count fabrics. A lot of people like the size 24 but I personally find I don't like the way it opens the holes too much. But the thing to remember is the tapestry needle it has a blunt head.

If you are doing a piece with a lot of backstitching I recommend using a sharp needle for this as it helps pierce the threads better which is often needed at that point. 

 

But why haven't you included XYZ on this list?

Ohk as some eagle eyed people may notice I have forgotten to mention a couple of items that most people would deem essential for cross stitching!

Scissors! 

Guess what? You don't need scissors. And you really don't need that $40 pair of cute embroidery scissors. If you have a pair of scissors at home fantastic. If you have nail clippers they work GREAT! (sometimes even better than scissors because they're small.) If you have a dental floss container with the little cutting thing you can use that. Even a kitchen knife, just make sure you wash it first. As long as you have something to cut your thread you are set, you don't need to go all fancy and buy a pair just for cross stitching. If you really enjoy it you may end up with a set especially for stitching because then you are certain of where it has been and always knowing where to find them but you don't NEED this.

Pattern

 I'm sure a lot of people are wondering why I didn't mention that you need a pattern. But the truth is unless you are after a particular picture you don't need a pattern. You can do squares/lines etc to your hearts content. But I also haven't put it down as something you need to purchase because you can find lots of cute patterns for free to test out whether this is something you are really into. I have a few in the files section of my group.  Eventually you will purchase patterns as you find designs that really call to you but you can do a lot without that.

Hoop

I have to use a hoop. Or some sort of frame. I like really tight fabric and when I try to stitch in hand I end up giving myself really bad cramps trying to hold the fabric tight. On the other hand my friend can't stand working with a hoop and just always stitches in hand (means holding the fabric in your hand). Neither is wrong or right they just are. But it's because of this that I won't add a hoop to a must have for anyone. It is entirely your choice. Try without one and see if you like it. Get a cheap wooden hoop and see if that is better for you. If you really like hoops maybe in time try a q snap (I hated q snaps and I don't really know why because others swear by them.) But the point I'm making is this is a very personal choice and you can try a couple of options but you don't need them to start stitching.

 

 

 

Every time I see this question come up so many people try to add their own items to the list. The things that THEY won't stitch without. The thing is these items have been found by them over time and often with a bit of trial and error. Their perfect pair of scissors with the plastic hoop and stand may work for them but probably won't work for you because you sit in a different spot and hold your hands differently so you like these clippers better and stitch in hand because it suits you. Also what you want and like will change over time as well. 

 

I hope this helps you know what you need to start with and I will have to make up a comprehensive list of more accessories that you can get when you are ready.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

WIP - Beacon and Daybreak!

 I have actually done some stitching that I can share as a Work in Progress. So often I can only share my work at the moment after I have finished it and it's published. But this week I have been spending some time on Beacon at Daybreak. So I want to show you my progress because I'm happy with how it is going :D

Last Week

22/02/2022

 

I have that whole section on the left before the path finished. It is all done. Now I am focusing on the path and I want to get that finished. This piece is so easy to carry around. I'm between other projects so this is good to stitch on. Also not having a deadline makes me so much happier with this project. I seem to always be rushing my other projects trying to get them done quickly to release the patterns and it's not as fun. I need to find the balance. Probably better if I managed to work 2 magazines ahead not just one. I will get there one day. I have time at lunch I just need to use it properly. Also need to get my head working a few seasons ahead. I am weird about drawing at the moment. It will all work out though :D

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Free Valentine's Day Pattern - Owl Love

 

It's been a while since I've released a free pattern and I had a need to make this cute little pattern. As normal at the moment I started with an idea I randomly sketched out and then decided I needed to make it happen. So if you're looking for a cute little piece to stitch for your partner or for your friends this weekend this little piece would be perfect!

Though the final result ended up being a lot simpler than this was I just loved the idea of it. You can find the pattern in my facebook group HERE. If you aren't on facebook send me an email/message and I can send you the pattern another way but facebook is the easiest way to share PDFs with large groups of people. Please remember to answer the questions if you aren't in the group yet as I tend to turn down people who don't! 

 

 

I hope you enjoy this little pair of owls and if you stitch it share your finished piece with me. 

 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Stitching Update

 I've been a bit sick this last week. Ended up with a couple of days off work and it just hasn't gone to plan. It doesn't help that I have absolutely no energy thanks to having been sick. I often get home from work and just collapse. You know those days? I've got all sorts of amazing goals and thoughts going around for my stitching but I am really struggling to actually follow through and finish them. 

 

Some of what is coming IF I can get myself to actually follow through on my goals. 

 - I'm trying to write a book. It is a book to help beginners with techniques and talking about what you need and don't need to know to actually cross stitch. I want it to be the ultimate resource for people to go to if they need to know something. It will have a selection of exclusive patterns to teach each of the techniques and I'm so excited. I have been adding more words each week so it is something that I am really working on but it may be months more before I have everything written. I want it to be comprehensive and give as much information as possible. I want to do it right. So if you catch me asking questions about techniques you want to know about please give me answers because it's probably for this book. 

- I'm playing with a tonne of new designs. I have a aussie summer design I'm looking to submit to a magazine that I need to work on ASAP. Also a mermaid pattern to go with my fairies which is pretty much done but I am testing out the pattern at the moment so I need to get that finished. 

- I have a tonne of drawings and ideas constantly going through my head. I just have to find time to do it all, which could be why I sometimes struggle to get anything done.I think I just need to focus on a couple of designs and just push through with those and then pick up the next ones. Just little by little! 

So what do I have to show you? 

Well my mermaid is currently looking like this ... so it's getting there. Honestly I don't know what is slowing me down! 

My book dragon has gotten more done on it. I'm missing a few critical colours at the moment and I need to organise to get them but the local store has a horrible selection!

I have also been sewing I needed another skirt for work so I tried out making an 18th century style petticoat. It's secured by Ribbons not buttons or zips. So it was a really quick make. I have worn it a few times to work and it's been perfect and exactly what I needed. I had the zip on one of my work skirts break a couple of months ago so I was getting desperate!

So this is what has been happening in my cross stitch and crafting life at the moment. So much happening at the moment! 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

New Start: Book Dragon

I've been waiting to start this for a while. Honestly for no reason other than just hadn't started it. I got given this pattern for mother's day a few years ago. I fell in love with the books and the sleeping dragon. I am almost as obsessed with dragons as I am with owls. Though I always forget what makes a wyvern vs a dragon (something to do with the amount of legs).

I haven't gotten far, I keep getting distracted by some test stitching. But I will do some more work on this soon. It will take me a while to finish this but I'm looking forward to this one slowly appearing. I still need a few more of the colours and spotlight didn't have it last time I looked! Their collection is getting worse and worse each time I go in there!

I'm really looking forward to what this one will become. I already have a second one of these dragon patterns a knitting one to do as well. They will be gorgeous on display.

Happy Stitching,

Caitlin

Fairy Party

Who doesn't love to think about the fairies that obviously love at the bottom of the garden? We all know they must be there. So with my obsession about fairies in full swing after a passing comment at a cross stitch meeting about fairies being good to stitch for kids particularly since she was thinking of making something for a little baby I felt the need to do some designing.

You can get the pattern here

Now this was about 4 months ago that I started with this idea going around in my head... but as I keep saying nothing has gone to plan this year and everything has been out of order.

But last weekend I was bored and going through patterns on my computer when I happened upon the file for the fairies. Well that was me done and I settled in to do some test stitching.

I grabbed my boxes of threads and lay them out and then I had to start picking colours. The pattern was originally in generic greens and pinks and I knew that wasn't what I wanted but it was what was easiest when designing so I could have some fun. Of course being me I gravitated straight to the purple :D

Does anyone else love playing with colours and just looking in the pretty boxes full of threads? No? Just me? Oh well!

I had a lot of fun playing with these and knew I didn't just want to offer it with a light skin tone so I played with a darker brown for the next one and even without purple I fell in love with this one too!

Isn't she so cute? I just love the way she looks :D Then because I had the metallic bug and I went a bought a pile of pretty sparklies that I KNEW I needed to try out something for! I used the dark purple sparkly E718 and it ended up being soooo pretty!

But it's so hard to get a good photo of the sparkles but you get a good idea looking at it here! What colours would you play with if you made these fairies?

So what would you make for your fairies?

The pattern is now available in my shop and it comes with the three fairy designs which are two styles of dresses and two styles of wings and hair. You can make these however you want and I would love to see what you come up with! So many awesome options!

I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I enjoyed making it!

Happy Stitching,

Caitlin

Owl Tic Tac Toe

   

OWL TIC TAC  TOE

This one has been a while coming. Honestly I have been meaning to release this one for a long while but the last few steps to finishing the board were just taking me ages! Partially because l was getting bored with one colour and partially just because I kept putting it down. Amazing how easy it is to forget a project that is in a bag you haven't opened for weeks. Which is just what happened what little time I've had has been taken up by other projects and a whole lot of school and work.

On the board game front I designed and stitched up a nine men's morris board and you can find the info about that here.

Then I designed a checkers board to match the other game and it's available from my facebook group as well.

Now here we are. I have finally finished stitching the board and managed to get some photos of it which is often the harder part! They're even beautifully staged. Which took AGES !!! Do you know how hard it is to get a phone to focus and just take the photo? Particularly once I realised how dirty the camera was.

I love how this one has turned out. I still have a lot of stitching to do to finish the rest of the pieces but it looks so awesome!

Just letting you guys know all my patterns come in Black and White and Colour versions. So they are easy to print out but also easy to use on a phone or computer. They come in PDFs and this pattern comes with instructions on how to finish the game board and pieces. 

I hope you like this pattern and that you enjoy playing the game. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Easter Update

Nothing has gone to plan over the last month or so, but then again, I think that has been the case for everyone.

Fresh roasted marshmallow!

 I actually lost track of time and didn't even realise this weekend was the Easter weekend until it was almost upon us. This means that I forgot to say anything about my Easter patterns to anyone until Sunday. When I got bored and started stitching one up. I also didn't realise I had no model photos of these designs because... I really don't know. I'm sure I stitched them at some point...  or maybe not. Oh well I've fixed that now.

I will just have to get some really good photos once they are finished as little pillows.

I still had the gorgeous blue flower fabric sitting beside the ironing board and these two little bits were sitting there... well I know how I'm going to finish these! It is just perfect!! I just need to find the time somewhere in between uni and work to use the sewing machine.
 

 This little bunny is so cute!!! I just love how it turned out!

 And the little chick is just as cute!

I changed a few of the colours when I was doing this. I just picked two yellows out which turned out not to be as far apart as I thought they would be. And I also changed the black of the eyes to be a dark grey. I really like how it makes it just a little softer. As the pastel green background just needed something softer and now I've chosen the dark blue fabric I'm grateful it isn't black.

I've also managed to catch up with the peppermint purple SAL. I love how it is going so far and it's just stunning to see it come together. It is one of the few times I have ever managed to keep up with a SAL so I appreciate the awesomeness that is this piece. It's extremely small bite sized pieces that can be easily finished in a session or 2 if I don't have a huge amount of time. Also the patterns are repeating so once I get the gist of what is happening it goes smoothly.

I hope you had a Happy Easter and you are safe.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Nine Men's Morris Pattern and Tutorial

With so many people all around the world working/living entirely from home at the moment I wanted to share a free pattern with everyone. It is a Nine Men's Morris or Mill (which ever one you call it) board and pieces.

 Because who doesn't need more board games to play with their family?

This one is special though, this game is really old and has been redone in so many different forms. You might even find it on one of those multi-game boards that you can buy. I know I think I have it in two other forms?? It was made popular in Ancient Rome and there is a reason that is stuck around and is still being played today. It's actually good!

To find out more about Nine Men's Morris and to get the rules follow the link here

 I designed this game as a cross stitch because it's something you can easily play with children (upper primary and high school) and I wanted something that could be fairly quickly stitched up and used.

I chose blackwork as the main component because of two reasons. The lines are best done in backstitching because it's simply quicker. And because it allows there to be a little bit of cute detail without overwhelming the whole piece.

The little pieces are stitched and then glued onto felt. I've got a video of how to do that in the group where you will find the pattern. To get the pattern you need to be on facebook it's the easiest place to share free PDFs. I have a facebook group called Beginner Cross Stitch Designs by Naughts & Cross Stitches and you will find this pattern in the files. Also a few other freebies are there as well.

Also I  managed to film how I finished it as a little mini quilt and all the steps along the way. So you can watch that below. I'm really proud of this little piece. It's such a simple design but so practical.

I hope you like this pattern and I'd love to see your board games if you make them!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Deadlift Girl Cross Stitch Pattern

And it is now released and available to be purchased. If you are knowledgeable about this series you'd know this is based off one of my drawings. Deadlift Girl. What you may not know is this drawing was kinda a picture of my sister. She is my deadlift muse, she is everything I want to be in the gym. It is one of two cross stitching patterns that are part of my fitness girls series. It will start with the three major powerlifting moves squat, deadlift and bench and include other exercises as I work out how to draw them.

Here is the picture I drew that it is based off. I'm really happy with how it turned out. A couple of cool details that you would like to know, the blue weights are 20kgs each and the bar is 20kg itself. So the weights in the cross stitch piece is 60kg.

Also the hands are in what is called an alternate grip. This grip is taught to a lot of women when doing a deadlift as it is easier to grip the bar with smaller hands.

It's been made to match with the squat girl pattern. The width is the same, and it's made to go together if you wish. It will eventually be a set of three with the bench girl making the set. It is the three major power lifting moves. I will add some of the other exercises eventually as I work out how to draw them.

So where do you find these awesome patterns? 

Well there are two ways you can buy it. If you just want the deadlift girl by itself you can find her at this link.

If you are interested in both the squat girl and the deadlift girl you can buy them in a bundle together that is slightly discounted. You can find the bundle here.

If you have already bought the squat girl from me I have a special code for you to use to purchase the deadlift girl. Message me and I will pass that onto you.

I really hope you enjoy the newest pattern in my collection.

Happy Stitching 
Caitlin

Craft Every Day Week 3

I have been having such an awesome time with this week :D I have been enjoying seeing everyone's posts on instagram and it's sooo awesome to see so many great projects. This week has been a big one as I released my latest pattern. Just a cute little sloth to make, not the deadlift girl yet. I spend all day on computers at work I am kinda avoiding them at home when I can.

I'm a day late this week as I didn't want to double post yesterday with my new pattern. I meant to post that on Saturday but realised when I came in to write this post that I hadn't so I'm a little late for my self imposed timeline.

I didn't touch Baroque this week but I have done quite a lot of stitching. I have a couple of little finishes, one of which is WELL over due!

I finished this little bird a few weeks ago but didn't show him before, but I started stitching the second of the little ornaments in this collection. It's a tree. 

I have also been drawing a little bit. Trying out a different style for the lips. I'm not sure I like it but meh ... it's cute!

I set up my frame to work on my Peppermint Purple SAL piece on Wednesday. I love how easy it is to work with the frame. 

This blanket got a bit of stitching done on it.... it really needs to be completed. I will get there eventually.

 Then I managed to finish this little sloth in time to release the pattern 

And finish the stitching on week 3 of the peppermint purple SAL

The detail in each week is beautiful and I love how this thread shows it off.

I also have an AWESOME finish to showcase for you. This one is long in coming. When I crazily decided to do the Crazy January Challenge in 2013 this is one of the 15 pieces I managed to start before giving up. So it has been a long 7 years to say the least, and it shouldn't have taken this long but.... it's easy to put things in a box and forget they're there. All it took was one day with it out and it's all done.

So hard to try and capture the beauty of this piece with the sparkles and everything.

 And lastly I have been knitting a little. The hope is I will get this shawl done for when it gets cold but we shall see...

How is your own Craft Every Day challenge going?

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin