Stitch Template — Complete Guide

Stitch is a folk embroidery page. The whole invitation is a piece of linen with a running stitch around its edge. Cross-stitched borders and motifs — every stitch drawn as a real X of thread — stitch themselves row by row as guests reach them. Your cover photo is stretched in a wooden embroidery hoop with a brass screw, your story hangs as a wall of small samplers, and the reply form waits on a square of linen with a loose thread and a needle at its foot.

Stitch is one of Fotify's simpler designs: its look comes from one thread colour you choose — any colour at all — the embroidery tradition of the patterns, and the linen it is stitched on.

This guide covers how Stitch looks, the options unique to it, how to apply it to your event, and how it lays out each section of your invitation.

Stitch is available on every plan, Free included.

For an overview of the template gallery and the picker, see How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation.

What makes Stitch different

Standard templates change colours and fonts over the same shared layout. Stitch replaces the layout itself: its own cover and closing, its own section heads, and its own treatment of the message, countdown, gallery, story, day and reply.

Signature design elements

• Real cross-stitch — every border and motif is worked stitch by stitch: an under-stitch in a deeper shade of the thread, crossed by the over-stitch with a faint sheen, on a linen weave
• Three embroidery traditions — Slavic diamonds and an eight-petalled rose in red and black, Nordic hearts and stars, or Otomi-inspired birds and flowers in two colours
• It stitches itself — the borders and motifs appear row by row, the under-stitches first and the crossing stitches just behind, once, the first time a guest reaches them
• A wooden hoop — your cover photo stretched in a beech embroidery hoop with its brass tension screw, the weave of the cloth showing through
• Your initials, embroidered — on a little round of linen sewn to the edge of the hoop, if you add them
• Stitched numerals — the countdown numbers are worked in a cross-stitch sampler alphabet
• Always readable — whatever thread you pick, even a pale yellow or a near-black, the stitches, the text and the buttons are adjusted until they read clearly on the linen

When to choose Stitch

Stitch suits celebrations that want to feel handmade, warm and rooted in family tradition:

• Folk and rustic weddings — Slavic, Ukrainian, Polish, Scandinavian or Mexican weddings, or any couple who loves handcraft
• Christenings and baptisms — a gentle white linen with a cobalt or forest thread
• Family celebrations — anniversaries, reunions, name days, harvest and village festivals
• Baby showers — Nordic hearts on white linen

Whatever the occasion, the photos your guests take matter as much as the invitation. Guests can scan the event QR code and add their photos to the shared gallery. See how Fotify works for weddings.

For a cosy winter lodge with a knitted band, try Chalet. For one thread that ties every section together, try Thread.

Applying Stitch to your event

1. Open your event, click Invitation in the sidebar, then the Invitation tab
2. In Design Template, click Change template if the gallery is collapsed, and find Stitch under Designs (it is listed under the Wedding filter, and under Baby shower and Party too)
3. Optional: press Try it on to see Stitch with your own invitation details in the live preview — nothing is saved until you press Use this design
4. Or click the Stitch card to apply it straight away
5. Open Stitch options below the gallery to pick your thread and the other options described below. Changes save automatically

Stitch works on every plan. On free events a small "Made with Fotify" badge appears in the bottom corner of the invitation; any paid plan or an active subscription removes it.

Switching to another template later is non-destructive: your event content stays exactly as you entered it, and your Stitch options are kept in case you switch back.

Stitch options

Stitch has seven options of its own. They take the place of the standard colour and font controls, which Stitch doesn't use.

1. Thread colour

The embroidery floss every stitch is worked in. Pick it two ways:

• A suggested swatch — Folk red (default), Cobalt, Forest, Black or Gold
• Pick any color — the last chip opens your device's colour picker, so you can match your wedding colours exactly. The colour's code is shown beside the chips

Any colour works. Stitch deepens or lightens the thread just enough to stay clear on the linen you chose — a gold on natural linen becomes an old gold, a black on black linen becomes a silver grey — and uses a slightly deeper shade for text such as the section labels, the times and the countdown numbers. The buttons are the thread as a stitched patch. A grey thread stays grey.

2. Pattern

The embroidery tradition of every border and motif:

• Slavic rose (default) — vyshyvanka-style diamonds and an eight-petalled rose, in your thread with black (gold on black linen; a black thread is paired with red)
• Nordic hearts & stars — rows of hearts and small eight-point stars and a large star rose, in your thread and a lighter shade of it
• Otomi birds & flowers — birds facing each other across flowers, and two birds by a flowering tree, inspired by Otomi embroidery, in your thread and a companion colour

3. Linen

The cloth the page is stitched on: Natural linen (default), White linen or Black linen. The cards, the hoop's cloth and the reply card are a lighter piece of the same linen.

4. Stitch itself

On by default: the borders and motifs stitch themselves row by row, once — the cover's when the page opens, the others the first time a guest scrolls to them. Turn it off and they are simply finished. Guests whose device asks for reduced motion always see them finished.

5. Initials

Up to 5 characters, embroidered on a little round linen patch sewn to the edge of the cover hoop — for example "A & S". Latin and Cyrillic letters, digits and "&" are worked in the cross-stitch alphabet (accents are left off, as on a sampler); other scripts, such as Hebrew, are set in the serif instead. Leave it blank for no patch: Stitch never makes up initials from your names.

6. Cover line

The small line above your names on the cover (up to 60 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("You are invited"). Try "Together with their families" or "Please join us for the christening of".

7. Closing title

The line at the end of the page (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("Until we meet").

Every piece of text Stitch prints on the invitation — the cover line, the Reply buttons, the section labels and titles, the countdown units, the closing line — can also be rewritten directly on the page: switch the live preview into edit mode and double-click the text. Section titles you have already set in their own settings (story, countdown, gifts, where to stay, getting there, FAQs) are edited in place the same way.

How each section is treated

Cover

Stitch's cover replaces the standard header:

• A cross-stitched border in your pattern across the top, and another across the foot of the cover
• Your cover line in small capitals in the thread, then your event name in Alegreya, a warm serif, with any "&" set in the thread's italic
• The hoop — your cover photo stretched in a wooden embroidery hoop with a brass screw, keeping the horizontal crop you set. Without a cover photo the hoop holds your pattern's centrepiece stitched on bare cloth. Your initials patch (option 5) sits on its lower edge
• The date, then the time and place on a line of small capitals — the time follows the Show time setting of your invitation's cover, the date and the place follow Show date and Show location, and every guest sees the date you picked, whatever their time zone
• A Reply button that scrolls to the RSVP form. It only appears when your RSVP section is visible, and never on a save-the-date page

On a phone the names come first, then the hoop, then the date; on a wide screen the hoop stands beside the text. Your names are printed exactly as you typed the event name. Long names step down a size so they never break mid-word.

Section heads

Each section opens centred: a small cross-stitched motif from your pattern (it stitches itself the first time it is seen), a small label in the thread, then its title in the serif and, for the story and gifts, your subtitle or gift message.

Message — on a piece of linen

Your message on a lighter square of linen with a running stitch just inside its edge, set large in the serif and centred. A long message steps down to reading size and aligns to the start of the line.

Countdown — stitched numbers

Each unit — days, hours, minutes and, if you show them, seconds — sits on its own linen tab with a running-stitch edge, the number worked in cross-stitch and the unit underneath. It counts down to your event's date and time in the venue's time zone, and shows your completed message once the moment arrives.

Gallery (Carousel) — pinned to the linen

Every photo is a print with a thin paper edge, pinned to the linen with a glass-headed pin, each a little askew. Two across on a phone, three on a wide screen (two when you have two or four photos); a last odd photo is centred.

Story — a wall of samplers

Each milestone is a small embroidery hoop holding its photo — or, without one, your pattern's small motif stitched on the cloth — with its date in the thread, its title and its text. On a phone each hoop sits beside its text; on a wide screen they stand in rows, each hoop hung a little askew. Every milestone is shown the same way.

Itinerary — along a running stitch

Each day hangs on a line of running stitch, every moment knotted on it with a big cross stitch: the time in the thread, the moment in the serif, its place and any note. Each day has its heading over its moments, and on a wide screen the days stand side by side. Your entry icons are not shown — the cross is Stitch's marker.

RSVP — a linen card with a loose thread

The reply form sits on a lighter square of linen with a running stitch inside its edge, under a small label, the title and your RSVP deadline. A loose thread leaves the last stitch at the foot of the card, loops once and ends on a needle resting on the cloth. On a save-the-date page the card holds the save-the-date note instead of the form.

Gifts, Event Details, Location and Save the Date

These share their structure with Fotify's other picker-coloured designs, dressed as squares of linen with a running stitch inside their edges, their icons in a stitched ring:

• Gifts — every registry, payment option, charity and wishlist item on its own card, grouped under small labels when you offer more than one kind. Payment details sit in an inset box with a Copy button; pay links, scan-to-pay QR codes and wishlist reservations appear as buttons on each card
• Event Details — a card per topic: the dress code with your suggested and avoided colours as swatches, where to stay and getting there as small cards (with a Book button where you added a link), and the FAQ as questions that open on tap
• Location — a map card beside an address card with your address, your directions and an Open in Maps button. When a map can't be shown, the map card draws a pin with the venue's coordinates; without coordinates the address card spans the row
• Save the Date (Calendar) — one card with the title, the event date and Google, Apple (downloads the calendar file) and Outlook buttons

Closing

A last cross-stitched border, your pattern's centrepiece, your closing line (option 7), the date and place, and a Reply button.

Sections that use the shared layout

These sections keep Fotify's shared layout and are dressed in Stitch's style:

• Photo upload, QR code, Table assignment, Playlist, Sub-events, Special treatments and custom sections

Each sits in the same column as the rest of the page on a linen card, with titles in the serif and buttons in your thread. Photos in custom sections are capped in height so a tall portrait never takes over the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where do the names on the cover come from? A: From your event name, exactly as you typed it. Stitch never splits or rewrites it, so write it the way you want it shown, for example "Olena & Taras".

Q: Why is there no initials patch on my hoop? A: The patch only appears when you fill in Initials in Stitch options. Stitch never makes initials up from your names.

Q: My initials are in Hebrew. Are they stitched? A: The cross-stitch alphabet covers Latin and Cyrillic letters, digits and "&". Initials in other scripts are set in the serif on the same patch.

Q: I picked a pale thread. Why do the stitches look darker than the colour I chose? A: Stitch deepens a thread just enough to stay clear on the linen (or lightens it on black linen), and uses a slightly deeper shade for text. The hue stays yours.

Q: Can I use Stitch for something other than a wedding? A: Yes. Rewrite the Cover line and the Closing title, and the section labels and titles in edit mode. White linen with a cobalt thread suits a christening; Nordic hearts suit a baby shower.

Q: Does Stitch work in right-to-left languages? A: Yes. In Hebrew and Arabic the layout mirrors: the initials patch, the running stitch of the day and the loose thread move to the other side. The embroidery patterns are symmetric, and the cover photo's crop stays as you set it.

Q: Does the page move? A: Only once: the borders and motifs stitch themselves row by row the first time they are seen. Turn Stitch itself off for a still page; guests whose device asks for reduced motion always see a still page.

Next steps

• See How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation for the template gallery and how to try a design on before applying it
• Compare similar designs: Chalet, an alpine lodge with a knitted band, or Christening for a baptism
• Let guests share their photos with a QR code: read about Fotify for weddings and digital invitations with RSVP

Need help? Get in touch through the in-dashboard help widget.