Cross Stitch for Women’s History Month

March is celebrated as Women’s History Month, so why not stitch up some great iconic women from history to celebrate?

Debs Cross Stitch has this awesome kit for a women who made history cross stitch project, which features famous women from Cleopatra to Greta Thumberg. It is a Bothy Threads design and has an emphasis on British women, which could be fun for people in other parts of the world to learn about some people they aren’t as familiar with. The kit includes 14 count fabric, thread and needle. The finished project is 33 by 42 cm, or about 13 by 16.5 inches.

If you’re looking for famous women with an Australian twist, Spruce Craft Co. has the pattern for you. Designed by Ellie Ross, this one features the faces of 10 famous women from about the world. It uses 11 colors and measures 71 by 74 stitches, which comes out to 5.1 by 5.3 inches or 12.9 by 13.4 cm on 14 count fabric.

Good Morning Maui has a chibi version of iconic women of history, including Empress Wu, Jane Austen and Harriet Tubman, among others. This one measures 198 by 107 stitches and uses 28 colors. That comes out to 14.3 by 7.8 inches or 36.6 by 19.8 cm, on 14 count fabric.

I also love ten tiny feminists from Anita and Fred, which features the features of some famous women including Frida Kahlo, Lucille Ball and Ada Lovelace. Each design is made to fit in a 3-inch hoop.

Or you can just stitch up a single famous female from history like this Grace Hopper design from CloudsFactory. It features Grace and her computer and measures 65 by 68 stitches. That’s 4.6 by 4.9 inches or 11.8 by 12.3 cm on 14 count fabric. This is just one of their Fabulous Women in History collection, which you can find in the history section on their website.

Speaking of CloudsFactory, last year I also shared their larger piece, Women are the Architects of Society, which is definitely worth mentioning again.

If you’re looking for a ton of easy cross stitch designs to use for Christmas projects, look no further than Claire Crompton’s The Ultimate Cross Stitch Christmas Collection, which includes more than 500 charts for tiny stockings, angels, ornaments and much more.

The book covers the materials you’ll use to create the projects, how to add beads and other embellishments, stitching techniques and instructions for finishing projects shown in the book.

You’ll find ideas for using the patterns such as making greeting cards, ornaments, wall hangings, napkin rings and patches, as well as ideas for adding stitching to ready made or semi-homemade gifts. There are also tips for framing and hanging projects, making an advent calendar and designing your own Christmas sampler.

The charts are arranged by theme like Christmas classics (bells, horns and candles), garlands including stockings and mittens, Christmas carols, advent motifs with numbers to make your own calendar, St. Nicholas, nativity projects, snowmen, Santa’s sleigh, snowflakes and snow themed projects, Shaker-style Christmas designs, Santa’s helpers and reindeer, tree decorations, snowy scenes, robins and other birds, angels, Christmas trees, penguins, baby’s first Christmas, Victorian-inspired designs, sweets and treats, Christmas flowers, child themed patterns, stitches for gift tags, fairies, bears both teddy and otherwise, 12 days of Christmas patterns, projects to work on linens for the table, sentiments for cards or other projects, and several sets of alphabets and numbers you can use to design your own projects.

There’s a really cute parcel alphabet that has the letters on presents and there are also elves and a Santa worked in, which would be cute for a project for a child or to make a sign for your house.

Patterns are shown several to a page with one key for all of the projects. The projects don’t say how big they are so you’ll have to count stitches on the chart and figure out how big they will be based on the fabric you are using.

Still, this is a nice, large collection of holiday themed cross stitch designs, which is great for people who like stitching projects big and small for Christmas.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?