Harvest Cross Stitch Patterns

We love our Halloween and Thanksgiving cross stitch patterns here at Craft Gossip, but if you want some projects that fit in the in-between holiday time or that are more generally fall themed, these harvest cross stitch patterns are a great place to start. Celebrate the bounty of the season with these stitching projects.

Keep it simple with the Happy Harvest pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. It features a pumpkin and leaves and measures 75 by 70 stitches, or 5.4 by 5 inches (13.7 by 12.7 cm) on 14 count fabric.

Or stitch up a crow and a pumpkin with this autumn cross stitch design from San-Man Originals and shared by Lulabelle Handicrafts. This is a free download at CyberStitchers, which you can find at the first link. It measures 50 by 50 stitches, and Lulabelle stitched hers on 28 count Monaco.

The Happy Harvest design from Darlene Deon Designs looks so cute as a little pillow, but you could also frame it if you’d rather. The design is 44 by 77 stitches and used 28 count tea dyed Monaco fabric. That makes the finished design about 2.75 by 5.375 inches, or around 7 by 13.5 cm.

Stitch a scarecrow who is happy to hang out with the birds with this design from Anabellas Shop featuring a scarecrow holding bird feeders as well as a cat, chicken, pumpkin and more. The design is 92 by 122 stitches and was worked on a natural colored 14 count fabric.

This kaleidoscope of leaves, apples and acorns is so pretty and looks like it would be fun to stitch, too. You could even choose variegated floss for the leaves so it looks like they are changing colors, but this is a cross stitch kit that includes the colors shown. The kit includes fabric, hoop, floss and a needle, and you’ll also receive a digital copy of the pattern. You can get it from Diana Watters Handmade.

Happy Harvest from Sue Hillis showcases a lot of different fall things, including sunflowers, harvesting and canning the garden’s bounty. It is 98 by 126 stitches and can be worked on 14 or 24 count fabric. You can find the pattern on 123Stitch.

My personal favorite of this batch might be this fall umbrella pattern from XstitchEu. It features leaves, acorns, pumpkins and mushrooms stitched in the shape of the top of an umbrella. The pattern was designed by Anita Insheva and uses 20 colors in a design space of 98 by 101 stitches.

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]

Have you read?