How to Design Simple Cross Stitch Patterns

Design your own cross stitch patterns and create Christmas decorations, old-fashioned samplers, pillowcase shams and more. The tips below will help you with the basics of selecting and drawing your unique cross stitch design for whatever subject you choose.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• graph paper
• colored pencils
• ruler

1. 
    
   Start with something simple and small: this Halloween pumpkin's gradual curves and minimal colors make it a good intermediate project

   Choose the design you want to create. If usually helps to have a picture similar to what you want or to practice drawing it a few times before creating the pattern.

2. Graph paper comes in sever sizes of squares: use each square to represent a stitch, or a square on a piece of cross stitch fabric. Choose your graph paper type based on the size of the squares. If you want a small image (e.g. 22 count) then choose a paper with the smallest squares available.

3. To determine the size of your image, determine how many squares per inch you want your design to be on fabric. If you want an image four by five inches, for example, measure a four-inch line on your fabric and count the number of stitches in that row; then do the same with a five-inch line.

4. 
    
   A simple Christmas tree can include large embroidery-like stitches for a gold star

   On your graph paper, mark off a section of squares that represent the number of stitches you measured above. This creates identical parameters for drawing the design on your graph paper.

5. 
    
   This simple Halloween pumpkin staggers its colored squares to create the pumpkin's curves.

   Within that marked-off section, begin coloring in the squares for your design. Go slowly and be prepared to erase if you drawing gets too big.

6. For half-stitches to create angles or curves, simply color half the box; indicate artistic touches like lines or knots with pencil marks. Use different colors to represent the different thread colors you plan to use with each part of your pattern.

7. Count your stitches one last time, then compare to the stitches and measurements you determined from your cross stitch fabric, to confirm the size. Then get out your thread and needle and start sewing!

Tips & Warnings

• Don't feel bothered by the difference in size between your graph squares and your fabric squares: remember, so long as the stitch count remains consistent, the pattern will fit in the parameters you measured.