Hi, I’m Nic! I am a very happy stay at home mom in Washington state. I have near infinite hobbies but my favorites are roller skating, drawing, and a wide variety of crafts.
How did you get into cross stitch?
I started cross stitching 15 years ago on my 2nd wedding anniversary, which is traditionally the cotton anniversary. I very optimistically chose a pattern that was several hundred thousand stitches with just a week to work on it assuming I could get it done in time 😂 I ended up choosing something with only 200 or so stitches and I still barely finished in time.
What do you enjoy most about cross stitching?
I mostly love the tactile sensation of the floss, the needle, and the fabric. My favorite part is the sound the floss makes when you pull it through the fabric and it’s otherwise quiet. It’s so peaceful. On top of that I like making very simple and small designs with little squares.
Where do you get your inspiration from when designing cross stitch patterns?
I am obsessed with cute things in my art! Lately I’ve been more influenced by fantasy books, and really enjoying exploring the cute side of it. I’m also heavily inspired by seasons and holidays. I love, love, love celebrating pretty much anything and finding ways to bring that into my hobbies to extend the celebration is great fun for me!
How do you use Stitchly in your design workflow?
I primarily design as pixel art on my iPad, and then I import it into Stitchly. One of my favorite things about Stitchly is how cleanly the pixel art translates into a pattern so I don’t have to do a lot of modifying after the fact!
What stands out compared to other tools you’ve used?
The largest standout to me was how pretty Stitchly is. The other tools I’ve used had an extremely dated look & feel, and the PDFs they created had the same look. I was not only happy with the technology Stitchly offered, but I was also impressed with how sleek it looked and how nice my PDFs turned out!
Which feature do you find most useful?
There are actually so many features I love. The backstitch tools make it easy to do a variety of placements, and the other stitch types help me find ways to represent shapes in smaller, or more interesting ways.
Being able to select my own shapes for stitches helps me keep my patterns accessible for people who rely on high contrast shapes and not colors to differentiate between colors, and helps me make my pattern cute buy selecting the shapes I like. Being able to change all of one color at a time is an absolute must when I am choosing colors for my patterns. Sometimes I go through 10-20 before making a final decision.
To find out more about Nic, please visit her website or follow her on Instagram.
Create your own designs
You can create your own cross stitch patterns by converting images or drawing your own designs using the Stitchly app.
Download now
Try Stitchly now on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. The full version is a one-time purchase.
Want to learn more?
Choose another professional designer or one of the guides below to learn more.
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Abi Skinner› |
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Tatiana Kecskemeti› |
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Nic Sworen› |
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How to convert a photo into a cross stitch pattern› |
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How to draw cross stitch patterns› |
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How to sell your cross stitch patterns› |