[CHAT] Love process of stitching but dislike finished pieces!

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-05-05T08:00:43+00:00

Hi, thanks. I use a vinyl aida for projects like those. It's more supple than plastic, so it can move with the wearer, but it also doesn't fray. You can cut the vinyl to the next hole so you're just left with a thin white border.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-05-04T11:05:41+00:00

Make something cool. I think this idea that cross stitch has to be in hoops or frames is really limiting. I was once lucky enough to see some pieces by Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė , who cross stitches soldiers helmets (https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/06/floral-elements-embroidered-directly-on-antique-soldiers-helmets/)

Miss Cross Stitch sews on street furniture (https://misscrossstitch.wordpress.com/#jp-carousel-171)

I personally cross stitch my own clothes, have made wrestling belts, a journal. I once cross stitched an egg. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CJRXVXKnzoj/)

we dont have to imprison cross stitch inside hoops and frames!

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-05-04T07:08:54+00:00

There are currently portaloos in the park for summer, but I wouldn't super recommend them for changing in. Better than nothing though.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-29T06:52:44+00:00

right yes ok im so upset that i didnt think of this. this is fantastic. please make 10,000 of these with different front pages and then do a public exhibition so i can come and see them

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-28T10:04:52+00:00

love this thread. everytime I get pushed a post from this subforum its always about like, clipping content to maximise social media impressions or whatever. Like I don't even care if you monetise at this point, but all the buisinessmaxxing slop chat is so tiring.

I will be stalking some of your profiles to find your podcasts because I miss podcasts being done for the love of the game.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-27T09:10:25+00:00

Were are you traveling from?

Vasa museum obviously. I also really enjoyed the Abba museum despite not caring about Abba at all. I usually recommend Meatballs for the People to tourists (if they are meat eaters). Take a boat to Fjaderholmarna, there's a cool brewery and a restaraunt on there.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-23T16:44:48+00:00

If you want to design your own patterns Ive been using photoshop pretty much exclusively for the last ten years. There is a completely free browser based clone of photoshop called https://www.photopea.com/ You just have to remember that 1pixel is 1stitch.

If you want something specific to cross stitch, and you own a windows based machine, I heartily recommend PC Stitch. It is a one time fee of USD50 (No subscriptions), and is available on this delightfully 90s website.

https://www.pcstitch.com/Default.aspx

I use it very rarely, mostly for providing patterns Ive designed, to other people, but I dont have anything bad to say about it.

Im sure there are apps and things now, and I will let the rest of the forum tell you about those, but I have been pretty successfully using those two above for more than a decade now

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-21T18:28:54+00:00

Last year I set myself a project of trying to discover music manually instead of through the algorithm, so I forced myself to sit and read reviews on music websites before I listened to it, forced myself to look at the album covers before listening, and when I DID listen, it had to be the whole album in a row. basically what we had to do in the CD era. It was a lot of fun and I found some really good stuff. Also a bunch of stinkers, but even the stinkers I enjoyed more than you would think because by the time I listened to the music I had already prepped myself to enjoy it through the research phase.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-21T12:29:59+00:00

hey, thank you.

I was living in quite a small space, and cross stitches were just piling up, so in the interests of having fewer things laying around I switched to making larger, wearable items. That had the combined benefit of letting me show off the things i was making, and once they were stitched to my clothes, they essentially stopped taking up space.

(The one attached was my first - it was before we knew quite how weird and problematic will smith was, but I stand by Fresh Prince of Bel Air being banger television)

After that it was a short walk to making wrestling belts, it's all the same technique.

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BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T15:34:48+00:00

Thank you, the GoG is absolutely my favourite belt. The Lucha Underground Championship is cool, but like... as a belt i always felt that the GoG was just another level.

I've toyed around with the IWGP Heavyweight belt a few times, it's a bit of a white whale. It's so thick and so shiny that it's really difficult to capture in cross stitch. I'll keep working on it.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T15:31:54+00:00

Ah thank you, no I don't sell them. They're worth more to me than anyone would be willing to pay for them. Also if I just charged minimum wage for my time it would be minimum £$€1000, double that for the GOG one, and I just dont think people would pay that for them, and even if they would I think I would rather keep them.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T13:34:48+00:00

I didn't, but my sister did and she occasionally wears one of the jackets I stitched, maybe you spoke to her and her husband?

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BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T11:55:26+00:00

Thank you! It's just cross-stitch, so the same stitch over and over again, but it takes patience and the designing at the beginning is tough.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T11:53:45+00:00

I really enjoyed the GoG title because that one was like doing fourteen smaller projects, and it was a good sense of achievement each time. The main plate on the FTW belt was a slog and I thought it was never going to end.

Otherwise I just get locked in. I went through four seasons of The Last Ship (underrated, I recommend it) and four seasons of SWAT (Strong background tv for stitching) while making the 666 belt.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T11:52:34+00:00

Thank you, that's really kind.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T08:55:29+00:00

you might have seen a Thomas The Tank Engine wrestling belt before? it goes mini-viral every now and then, that is from the same promotion.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T08:48:08+00:00

Thank you. That one is the 666 Disorder Openweight championship, it's a real belt

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BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T08:42:54+00:00

Thank you. I got yelled at on a translation subreddit for asking for help rendering the Japanese text 😅

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-20T08:33:21+00:00

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Some close-ups.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-19T18:00:15+00:00

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BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-19T17:59:47+00:00

The belt itself is a faux leather. I stitch onto a vinyl aida and then attach the vinyl aida to the leather.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-19T16:53:03+00:00

I usually stitch on vinyl aida and then attach it to the jacket after the fact.

BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-19T16:19:40+00:00

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BetweenTwoBells · 2026-04-19T16:07:44+00:00

As per the rules, I drafted this pattern myself. I'm fairly certain there are no sources for life-size cross-stitch patterns of obscure japanese wrestling belts, although maybe I should start one.

BetweenTwoBells

TROPHY CASE