Budding Cross Stitch Designer Needs Advice

by GoGirl99
(South Carolina)

Hi There - it was such a pleasure to read your article and your story…it gave me hope that I will find a solution to my design software search!!

My story strangely parallels yours in fact….my first designs were in the 70's with graph paper and pencils, but I quickly grew bored because the process took so long - so I put it away. Then kids and family life happened, now I'm retired with a whole new vigor for designing!!

I actually shadowed a lovely designer recently and was thrilled at the entire prospect of designing cross stitch! I just HAVE to do it!! She uses Easy Grapher and is very happy with it as it is user friendly, produces a professional finished chart and has some fun stitch packs

I need a professional quality software that is user friendly and super flexible. I would love to be able to add a variety of floss lines and fabrics and view "actual" design as I go…I see you are a Ursa resaler, but it would be super interesting to compare Ursa to the Easy Grapher?

I am so excited to get started and have many designs just waiting for the right software.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would also be interested in any business startup advice as well…I get a little overwhelmed with the business facets of online store, marketing, and producing a quality product.

Thanks a bunch! I look forward to hearing from you -

Laura Kelly


Carol answers...

Laura, thank you for writing. I am so glad that you are excited to get back to designing. Yes, software has made the process a lot quicker, and it is certainly easier to make changes to a design as you go along. I remember those days of starting again, just because I blobbed the ink or drew the wrong symbol in the wrong square on the chart!

Cross Stitch Software choice is a personal thing. One designer will love a particular program while another just can’t get it to work for them as they would like. I have to admit I have not tried Easy Grapher, so cannot I am afraid, compare it to WinStitch from Ursa. The best thing to do is try out as many demo programs as you can, until you find the one that says “I am the one!” to you.

With regards to the business start up questions, you might find my book about starting a cross stitch design business helpful. It covers all the things I have learned since I started designing back in the early 1990s. Yes, I am old!

You can read more about the book here...

Stitch Your Own Business

I do hope you will give designing a go. I have enjoyed it tremendously.

Regards,

Carol

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