I’ve been designing my own cross-stitch patterns almost as long as I’ve been cross-stitching. The oldest one that still exists is of a koala on a tree.
I stitched it up again this week, though I made a counting mistake (per usual) and used three strands for everything including backstitch, which was also a mistake.
What a difference a face makes! I wasn’t sure whether the eyes and nose were to be outlined in tan or black, nor whether the box around the pattern was backstitched or not, since it was not explicitly addressed in the backstitch color instructions and I didn’t see a clear inference to be made. The non-mouth facial features were probably intended to be outlined in tan, upon reflection, although that would make the mouth stand out a lot. As it is, though, he kind of looks like he’s wearing thick-rimmed glasses with an attached nose and mustache.
Why I thought a koala should be tan, however, is one question that cannot be answered.