Polar Bear Cross Stitch Patterns

Polar bears might not be an animal you associate with Christmas, but they are a great choice for winter decor that takes you beyond the holidays. These polar bear cross stitch patterns are so cute, and they’d be great as gifts for a winter-loving friend or to use in your own home.

Talking of cute, there’s this baby polar bear cross stitch pattern from Daily Cross Stitch. The fact that its standing on a broken piece of ice is a little grim, but you can leave that out if you want. As shown it is 80 by 80 stitches and looks like it uses six colors.

I also love this geometric polar bear design from tiny kiwi NZ on Etsy. It uses eight shades of blue and white thread to make the design, which measures 73 by 86 stitches, or 5.2 by 6.1 inches on 14 count fabric.

And then there are these cute polar animals from Lucy Heaton, which features a polar bear, arctic fox, penguin and snowy owl. Each design is about 65 by 65 stitches, and you can stitch them all in their own little frames or make one big project with them. You can find the patterns on Etsy.

This pile of polar bears from Light Unicorn Designs on Etsy is sure to make you smile. It has a watercolor look to it that is produced by using lots of different colors of thread (the pattern doesn’t say how many, but says you can cut back if you think it’s too many, so that says a lot right there) so this isn’t a beginner pattern, but the results are well worth the effort.

Speaking of patterns that aren’t for beginners, there’s this stunning polar bears in scarves cross stitch pattern from The Cross Stitch Studio. I love their scarves so much; they look just like they’ve been knit with chevrons, diamonds and other colorwork designs. (As a knitter this really speaks to me.) This is one of those project of a lifetime type projects, measuring 700 by 560 stitches and using a whopping 90 colors. But wouldn’t you love to be able to say you made it?

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35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

If you like repeating cross stitch designs, borders you can use on other projects or as bookmarks, florals and Japanese-inspired designs, you’ll want to check out 200 Japanese Cross Stitch Designs by Saeko Endo. This collection of 200 cross stitch charts is low on instruction but big on inspiration for those who are comfortable taking a chart and running with it.

The book includes a brief introduction to the needed supplies and basics of stitching, but mostly is just photographs of finished designs and the charts that go with them. The charts vary widely in size and there can be anywhere from one to six charts printed on a single page.

Many of the designs are repeating patterns, but the chart shows a larger version so you can see how the repeats go together. Each chart has marked what portion is repeating and how many stitches and rows it includes. Other than that the charts are not numbered, but there are darker lines every five rows to help you count.

The patterns all range from one to three colors, and some include half cross stitches or back stitching, but most are full stitches.

The book is arranged into categories of motifs: geometric patterns, retro patterns, traditional Japanese patterns, floral and fauna and borders and pictorial motifs.

My favorites are the Japanese designs, many of which are recognizable from woodcuts, kimono designs and traditional shashiko embroidery. You’ll find cherry blossoms, suns, knots, and simple line designs that would be lots of fun to stitch.

There are a few pages devoted to different ways to modify charts such as changing colors, changing the way to design is repeated, flipping and rotating designs.

Other than that you’re on your own for how you actually want to use these designs. Of course they can just be stitched and framed but it might have been nice to see some of the projects stitched and staged in a way you might use them in everyday life (repeating motifs as coasters, or a bigger design turned into a pillow, for example).

Sometimes it helps to see designs used in different ways to get you thinking about how you might use them yourself. If you don’t need that creative push, this is a fine book full of patterns you’ll have fun playing with in different ways.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 200 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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