About Us

About the Designers

StitchJunction started the way many small businesses do — with unexpected time and a hobby that refused to stay small. During lockdown, Jane and Henry picked up cross stitch as a creative outlet and quickly found themselves charting their own designs rather than following existing ones. What began as a personal project became a small studio based in Auckland, New Zealand, focused entirely on counted thread patterns for embroidery and cross stitch.

The Design Process

Every StitchJunction pattern begins with reference gathering. Jane and Henry assemble and composite imagery in Photoshop, building a precise visual reference before a single stitch is charted. The goal at this stage is accuracy — getting the proportions, colour relationships, and characteristic details of the subject right before translating them into a grid.

From there, the image is charted into counted thread format, with thread colours chosen to reflect the natural palette of the subject as faithfully as the medium allows. Each pattern is tested to ensure the finished stitch count and symbol key are clear and workable.

Why New Zealand Wildlife?

New Zealand's native birds are visually extraordinary — the iridescent blue-green of a Takahē, the rust and olive of a Kiwi, the vivid geometry of a Tūī. For counted thread work, that kind of colour complexity and distinctive form is exactly what makes a compelling pattern. The challenge of rendering those details in thread is what drives the catalog.

It also means StitchJunction patterns reflect something genuinely specific to Aotearoa — designs you won't find in a generic craft kit.