Christmas Sampler Cross Stitch Patterns

I love a good sampler pattern, and this time of year it’s fun to stitch up sampler style patterns related to Christmas. Some of these Christmas sampler cross stitch patterns can work like an advent calendar, stitching a little bit each day in the runup to Christmas, or you can stitch it faster to make it part of your decor this holiday season.

The Holly Jolly Santa Sampler from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is one of the quicker projects on this list. It features an alphabet, Santa, a house and a snowman, with presents and snowflakes making up the border. It is 58 by 96 stitches, or 3.6 by 6 inches on 16 count fabric.

The Santa Button Sampler from Homespun Elegance on Etsy is a classic style sampler with an old-fashioned Santa and tree alongside a colorful script alphabet. It’s called the button sampler because there is space in each corner of the design to sew on a button, or you could stitch a little motif like a heart or a star in the corners if you’d rather. This one is stitched on 28 count linen and measures 8 1/4 by 5 1/3 inches.

If you want something specifically to work on over a bunch of days, check out the 12 days of Christmas cross stitch pattern from Craft with Cartwright. This design has a symbol for each of the 12 days of Christmas in the song, and you could stitch one each day for 12 days before or after Christmas (the 12 days of Christmas are technically after the holiday, but we’re not here to judge).

Or try the Merry Christmas advent calendar from Owl Stitching House on Etsy. This one is designed to be stitched a block at a time and they are actually numbered in the design so you can easily keep up with which one to stitch each day. The full design is 137 by 233 stitches and uses nine colors.

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One of the most common supplies for cross stitch, aside from fabric, needles and floss, is an embroidery hoop. A hoop isn’t needed for every project, and indeed there are some stitchers who prefer not to use them at all. I generally don’t use a hoop when I’m working on a small cross stitch project, especially something that’s shape isn’t conducive to using a hoop (like a bookmark).

But embroidery hoops can be really helpful for cross stitch because they hold your fabric at an even tension, which allows you to stitch more evenly without any more work on your part. It’s great for beginners to use hoops because the tension on the fabric can both help make your stitches more even and make the holes in the fabric a little easier to see.

I’ll admit to always just buying whatever hoop is available in the right size when I’m ready to start a project without giving it much more thought than that. But there are things you should consider when choosing among the different kinds of hoops, which Caterpillar Cross Stitch covers in their great guide to embroidery hoops.

The post walks you through wooden, plastic, spring tension and flexi hoops (which I’ll admit to having never heard of; they’re made of vinyl and plastic apparently), as well as Q-Snap frames, which aren’t really hoops because they’re made of plastic tubes that you snap together in the size and shape you need.

It also covers what size hoop you should use for the project you’re working on and how to actually use a hoop in the right way.

Whether you’re new to cross stitch or more seasoned, you’re sure to pick up a tip or a product to try in this post, so go check it out over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch.

Do you have a favorite kind of embroidery hoop to use for cross stitch, or do you go without? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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