Pumpkin Cross Stitch Patterns

I feel the urge to rush fall along this year and kind of want to head right into spooky season (thus the posts about haunted houses and ghosts!) but I know we should also take a moment to give fall its due. And I do love fall, which is why I shared some fall leaf cross stitch patterns, too.

I thought one way to celebrate fall without getting too Halloween would be to look for some pumpkin cross stitch patterns that aren’t jack o’lanterns. These can be used to decorate all the way through Thanksgiving, and some of the little ones you could even stitch on cloth napkins for your holiday table, like the mini pumpkin pattern from Craft with Cartwright.

This one is just 39 by 36 stitches, or less than 3 inches around, and it uses three colors.

The individual pumpkins in this pumpkin sampler could be stitched individually on smaller projects if you wanted. It’s from Cross with Me on Etsy and features plain pumpkins in different colors and plaid pumpkins. As shown it measures 7.5 by 7.36 inches and is 105 by 103 stitches. It uses five colors.

One cool thing about cross stitch is that you can use designs made for other crafts to make cross stitch projects. For example, beading charts also use squares and you can stitch the same pattern just fine. This pumpkin stack from Bracelet Book includes the word Boo but you could just stitch those areas in the same color as the pumpkin if you want to keep it plain.

Demented Stitchers on Etsy has a pretty pumpkin cross stitch pattern that looks like it was stenciled. This is a great one for beginners to try as it’s only 71 by 76 stitches, or about 4.4 by 4.7 inches on 14 count fabric, and it uses three colors.

For a bit of a fancier look, try this scroll pumpkin pattern from Annie’s. It’s rated easy and it looks like it uses about five colors.

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Haunted House Pincushion Cross Stitch Pattern

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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