Elaine Sheppard

Elaine Sheppard is a Chicago-based cross-stitcher and the resident writer behind Stitchies' guides and blog. Originally from New Jersey, she now lives in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago with her family, where a good chunk of most evenings tends to disappear into a hoop. She's been stitching for about five years.

Elaine is happiest with large-format pieces — the kind of sprawling, many-skein projects that take months and let her really leave her mark. Working at that scale taught her most of what she writes about here: how to keep dozens of DMC shades organized, how to judge whether an Anchor or Madeira substitute will actually read the same once it's stitched, and why a color that looks perfect on a screen can land completely differently on 28-count linen.

On Stitchies she focuses on the practical side of thread color — brand conversions, fabric counts, palette building, and the small decisions that separate a project you finish from one that ends up in a drawer. She writes as a fellow stitcher rather than a manufacturer: conversions are approximate, and she'll always tell you when a real skein comparison matters more than a chart. Editorial corrections and data review are handled alongside Jim Sheppard, who maintains the site.