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?

Most of the cross stitch projects I make are pretty small and not something I would consider heirloom quality (though I am working on a big project for my daughter that I hope to have done for her high school graduation in two years that I hope is something she’ll want to keep forever, but that’s another story).

But it is definitely possible to cross stitch projects that will stay around for generations, and one prime example of that is a cross-stitched linen tablecloth.

Linen tablecloths are classic, while stitching one can be a big project, depending on the size of your table, it doesn’t have to be really complicated.

Koekoek has a good, detailed post about figuring out how much linen you would need to make a tablecloth that you can cross stitch and/or embroider on (they also sell tablecloth linen in their shop if you don’t already have some or a linen tablecloth you already use). Of course for a project like this you’d want the best fabric you can find and afford, because you’ll be stitching it for a long time and hopefully using it for years.

The post walks through how to measure your table and determine how much fabric you’ll need including the drop you’ll want and hems. It includes the math for rectangular and square tables as well as circular tables, which helps take the guesswork out of buying fabric. It also talks about preparing the fabric and making mitered corners if you have a square or rectangular table, which will help the tablecloth sit nicely on your table.

The tutorial doesn’t include specific patterns to use for your tablecloth, but it does advise keeping it simple because this is a really big project. You can start with a motif in the center or doing borders, and this is a project you can add to through the years by, say, stitching a symbol for each family member or adding names, wedding dates, etc. and making it a real record of your family.

Would you ever cross stitch a tablecloth or have you done so? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Koekoek]

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