Have you made your own cross stitch pattern but wishes that you could use it for Diamond Painting? Or have you found a free cross stitch pattern on the Internet that you would rather do as Diamond Painting? If you answered yes to any of the questions then you will be happy. For below I will try to explain how to make cross stitch patterns into Diamond Painting. As long as you know how many stitches it is for each color and the pattern size in stitches, it should be no problem.
Note that all calculations below to make cross stitch patterns into Diamond Painting are for square drills.
How to calculate the canvas size
The sticky canvas for Diamond Painting can be compared to 10 count aida (10 stitches/inc) fabric in cross stitch. To find out how big canvas you need for your pattern, you have to multiply the number of stitches in height and width by 0.25 cm. A square drill is 0.25 × 0.25 cm in size. If you have a pattern that has, for example, 500 stitches in height and 200 stitches in width then you should count as follows: 500 × 0.25 = 125 cm, 200 × 0.25 = 50 cm. This means that the canvas covered with drills is 125 cm high and 50 cm wide. You should add an edge of about 10 cm around to be able to frame (or similar) the finished work. The edge should not be sticky. Remember to round up to the nearest whole number. If you get 125.7 cm then you want 126 cm, as well as if you get 125.2 cm then you want 126 cm.
So in my example, I would order a sticky canvas that is 125 cm high and 50 cm wide, plus 10 cm border without the sticky. In total, the canvas becomes 145 cm high and 70 cm wide. 10 cm above + 125 cm + 10 cm below = 145 cm. 10 cm to the left + 50 cm + 10 cm to the right = 70 cm.
How to calculate how many square drills you need
Most cross stitch patterns have a list of which DMC colors are used and how many stitches are to be sewn. You can use this to find out how many square drills you need for each color. One cross-stitch stitch is equal to a drill. So it means that if you are to have for example 50 stitches of 310 you should have 50 drills of 310. However, it is not possible to order only 50 drills since they are prepacked. Either those who sell them go by weight, and the bags are in 2 grams, 5 grams or 10 grams. 2 grams is about 300 drills, 5 grams is 700, and 10 grams is 1400. If they do not go by weight, they often come in the bag size shown below.
This means that if you need 50 drills of 310, you need to buy either 1 package of 2 grams or 1 package of about 200 drills. The leftover drills you can always use for other projects. If you need more than 200 drills of one color, just order several bags.
To keep in mind
Keep in mind that cross-stitch patterns in Diamond Painting format tend to be very large. Since in the cross-stitch world you have the choice to use different types of fabric. A cross-stitch pattern sewn on 18 stitches per inch becomes considerably smaller than one that is sewn on 10 stitches per inch. The Diamond Painting canvas is only available in 10 stitches per inch. Which means you will have 10 drills per inch.
For example, a pattern that is 50 stitches high and 50 stitches wide. Will be on 18 Aida fabric about 7 cm x 7 cm. At 10 fabric (Diamond Painting canvas) it will be about 13 cm x 13 cm. So the difference is quite big.
I have a cross stitch pattern that I would like to convert to Diamond art.
How do I go about getting this converted?
I will need the sticky canvas, the colored chart, and the coordinating stones.
Thank you for any help you can give me for this project,
I am doing this as a gift for my wife
Very Truly yours,
Bill Nelson
Hi!
I will need to point you towards the post you have commented on, since it describes the process. You need to calculate how big of a canvas you need, and how many diamonds of each color. Then you need to order it from a company that sells those products. Note that you will get a blank canvas and you will use your cross stitch pattern to match where to put the drills on the canvas.
/Josefine, All about Diamond Painting