Free Small and Easy Cross Stitch Patterns

How to use these patterns

1. Pick a patternStart with a three-color design such as the heart or the star, or pick a fruit if you are ready for a leaf and a highlight.
2. Print it or add initialsPrint the chart with its DMC key, or open it in the editor to change a color or add initials first.
3. Stitch, or change colorsStitch it in an evening or two. Then try the same chart in new colors, or move on to a bigger theme.

What makes these patterns easy

A beginner pattern is not only small. It also has big areas of one color, a clear outline, few color changes and almost no single stray stitches. Every chart here follows those rules. They range from 17 to 35 stitches wide and 15 to 25 stitches tall. The Simple heart is 19 by 16 stitches in three colors, and the Strawberry is 17 by 21 stitches in four.

Small and easy does not mean plain. The Coffee mug has a tiny heart and a wisp of steam, the Watermelon slice has black seeds, and the Rainbow, the largest at 35 by 22, uses eight colors in clean stripes that are simple to follow. All twelve are original StitchJam designs, and a finished mini is yours to give away or sell.

What you need for a first project

A small piece of 14-count aida about 6 by 6 inches, a 4 or 5 inch hoop, a size 24 blunt cross stitch needle, small scissors and one skein of each floss color. Separate two strands from the six in the skein and thread them; that is enough coverage on 14-count. For more on strands and needle sizes, see strands and needles for cross stitch.

Many of these designs need only a few yards of each color, so a starter set of basic DMC colors or leftovers from another project will often do. Colors on screen are approximate, so a slightly different red from your drawer is perfectly fine.

Before the first stitch, find the center of the fabric by folding it in half both ways, and the center of the chart, by counting half its width and half its height. Starting there keeps a tiny design from ending up squeezed into one corner of the hoop.

Sizes on common fabrics

These charts are tiny on fine fabric, which is perfect for jewelry and tags and a little fiddly for young hands. A lower count gives bigger squares and bigger results:

Easy cross stitch for kids

For children, 11-count aida or 7-count plastic canvas is easier to see and count, and a blunt needle is gentle on fingers. Choose the heart, the star or the sun first. Let them stitch one color at a time and mark finished stitches on a printed black-and-white chart with a pencil. An adult should handle the scissors for younger kids.

Plastic canvas is especially forgiving: it does not need a hoop, it holds its shape, and a finished 20-stitch design is almost three inches across, which is a good size for a coaster or a magnet.

Quick finishes for tiny designs

Small charts finish into small things. Glue felt behind a stitched heart and add a pin back for a brooch. Back a cherry or strawberry with felt and a key ring for a keychain. Stitch the star or the apple on plastic canvas, edge it in one color, and you have a coaster. Frame the mug or the house in a mini hoop for a shelf, or glue a finished piece to a folded card for a birthday.

Gift tags are another quick idea: stitch a heart on a scrap of aida, trim it, and tie it to a present with string.

Changing a pattern in the editor

Open any card in the editor to swap colors: a green apple, a pink heart, a blue mug with a yellow heart. You can also add a stitch or two, or initials from the cross stitch text generator. When you feel ready for something larger, the flower cross stitch patterns are a natural next step, or draw your own from scratch in the cross stitch pattern designer.

Every pattern here is an original StitchJam design or a public-domain source named on the pattern. Colors are DMC or bead brand numbers; on-screen colors are approximate. Free for personal use and gifts.