Recent Commission - 'Robin' the [complex] Chicken
Finished Pieces

Recent Commission - 'Robin' the [complex] Chicken

A New Kind of Request

Late last year, a previous customer of mine reached out to me, asking if I could make a different kind of portrait that would be extremely special to her.

"Of course!" I responded to her questioning if I could do it. Just because I haven't done something specific you might be wanting, doesn't mean I can't give it a try! So that's what I did for this precious, 4" little hoop. But it wasn't just as simple as grabbing a couple of colours and whipping up some 'x's. Why's that?


Full photo of the completed cross-stitch piece.
Focus on the head and tail of the completed piece
Turkey work for head feathers and a teeny little French knot.
Close-up image of the feet and lettering.
Close-up image of the feet and lettering. Font used; 'Nancy'

The crazy amount of colours used in this portrait!

All colours are in DMC floss

2 3 4
7 8 21
310 422 436
437 451 452
535 543 729
738 739 746
839 869 975
3032 3033 3371
3781 3782 3790
3829 3830 3852
3862 3864  
Total colours: 32!

Using the stitch people "farm animals" book as a rough guide, I made a double-sized, edited chicken shape on 14ct Aida floss. And to get that awesome colour gradient?

Well, almost every single cross-stitch on the body was made from combining 3 separate coloured strands of floss. That's why it uses 32 different colours!

This process was a little daunting to begin with, but as I continued, it got easier. And messier on my desk! You can watch a lot of the process it took to achieve this on my YouTube channel, as I streamed myself stitching this piece.

What do you think? What kind of animal would you want to order for yourself? Write a comment below!

A photograph of the chicken, "Robin".
One of the reference photos I received to work with.
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Custom Cross-Stitch - Character Portrait

Custom Cross-Stitch - Character Portrait

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Hi, I'm Kate 👋

About the author

In a previous life (AKA: pre-kids), I was a web designer/developer & photographer who loved to dabble in numerous arts and crafts. Now, I'm a cross-stitch & embroidery pattern designer and full-time mum to my two daughters, with adult-diagnosed ADHD and suffering with mental health issues.

Closet nerd, self-proclaimed hermit and professional procrastinator. I have a secret crush on modern architecture, brush calligraphy, sweets, pretty nails and pastel colours.

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