Black Cat Cross Stitch Patterns for Halloween

Black cats are a well-known symbol of spooky season, but they’re also great companions throughout the year. (Written as a person who has a black cat and a tuxedo cat!)

Whether you’re looking for black cat cross stitch patterns to add to your Halloween decor just because they’re spooky, or because you own a black cat, this collection should provide some fun options.

The design that made me want to write a post about black cat cross stitch patterns was this one, the Autumn Cat 3D design from Cotton Pixels on Etsy. I am probably going to have to make this one because it is just so cute and I think it would be great to display on a shelf throughout the year or with my collection of knit and crocheted pumpkins in the fall.

Speaking of Halloween-themed black cat cross stitch patterns, The Starlight Stitchery has a lot of them on offer, but a couple that jumped out to me were the Boo Whoo pattern from Luminous Fiber Arts and Broom Black Cat from Stitch-N-Needs. (The first is a printed pattern and I think the second is a PDF but I’m not sure.)

This gorgeous stained glass black cat design from Luthien ART Shop on Etsy definitely has a Halloween vibe but to be honest I think I’d display it all year. It uses 36 colors and is based on a 200 by 200 stitch grid, which comes out to 14.3 inches square on 14 count fabric. This might be one you can start now and have finished in time for next Halloween!

DMC has a fun free occult black cat cross stitch pattern, where the cat is decorated with creepy images like a spider and web, ghost, bat and more. It uses 10 colors and you can download the pattern for free with login.

And while this one isn’t strictly Halloween, the cat in the bottle makes me think it’s been cursed by a witch (but being in a bottle full of books doesn’t sound too bad! You can get this one from Etsy seller Catstitch21.

I’ve done embroidery on paper before and it’s a lot of fun. You can use a needle to punch out a particular shape to stitch, or my favorite thing is to take a copy of an old photograph or a page from a magazine and add stitched details to the original picture.

One thing I haven’t tried but would also be fun to do is cross stitching on paper.

This is a technique that requires a fair amount of preparation because you need to find a pattern you can easily transfer and print it at actual size, then use the pattern itself to help you decide where to put the holes in your paper. And then after all that you can do your stitching.

It’s a pretty straightforward process, but Crewel Ghoul has a great tutorial that walks you through how to do it step by step. It even includes a sample pattern you can print out and try for practice.

The post also has tips for starting and finishing your threads so that the back looks as neat as it can, if that’s something that’s important to you. (When I have done embroidery on paper I usually just tape the thread end to the back. If the back were going to show I’d probably just cover it with more paper.)

Stitching on paper is a fun way to make bookmarks or greeting cards, but you also need to make sure your paper is thick enough to support the holes you’ll be making in it. This post has a good rundown of materials you’ll need and what kind of paper is best. She used watercolor paper but I’ve used card stock and scrapbook paper that was a little thicker than the average printer paper.

You can always test a little on the paper you’re considering to make sure it will stand up to the project.

Check out the post, which includes a video, over at Crewel Ghoul for more tips for cross stitching on paper. Is this something you’ve tried before? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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