Stitch Up a Fun Halloween Sampler

Need a simple Halloween project to make for spooky season? This Halloween sampler cross stitch pattern from Anchor might be just the thing.

The design is made up of six horizontal panels that you can stitch separately or all together to make the sampler. The designs include:

cauldrons, potions and skulls and cross bones
the word Halloween worked in multiple colors
gravestones, crosses and witch hats
a spiderweb with spiders
ghosts, bats and the word boo
more graves and crosses with pumpkins this time

Each section is divided by simple two-color rows (I love how the bats hang off the row above them!). The individual sections could be worked horizontally or vertically to make Halloween bookmarks or other projects.

As shown the full design is 71 by 85 stitches and it is worked in six colors. Worked on 14 count fabric it comes out to about 5 by 6 inches. The pattern is rated easy and includes a good-sized chart in black and white and a little basic cross stitch instruction if you need it.

The colors used in this one are classic for Halloween — black, orange, green, purple, gray and white — but you could change up the colors if you like or even use fewer of them if you wanted to make it a little simpler. The stripes between the motifs could also be worked in a single color, or use a variegated thread to make it even more fun.

You can download this free pattern from Yarnspirations. In addition to this one there are a handful of other free Halloween cross stitch patterns from Anchor on the Yarnspirations website. You can find all of them here, but they include a ghost, a bubbling cauldron, a laughing jack o’lantern and a black cat riding a broom. And if you need more black cat cross stitch patterns be sure to check out my roundup of those, which you can find here.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Next Pattern:

Super Cute Ghost Cross Stitch Patterns

Unique Stitch Crafts is a Turkish designer that has a couple of main interests in their cross stitch designs: travel and Christmas stockings.

By far the biggest category in their storefront is Christmas stockings, with more than 100 options to choose from. There are fully stitched fronts with designs classic and whimsical (like an alicorn and a pastel rainbow, or a bunny in Harlequin costume playing violin to a mushroom) and designs that just go across the cuff of the stocking. There are ornaments with a Nutcracker or Frozen theme, New York City stockings and stockings for your dinosaur.

As an example, here’s a stocking covered with mini holiday designs, which you could also use as ornaments if you wanted. The full design is 165 by 255 stitches, which comes out to 10.3 by 16 inches, or 26 by 40.6 cm on 16 count fabric. The pattern just makes the front of the stocking so you need to grab some fabric for the back of the stocking and sew it together yourself.

There’s also a large collection of travel cross stitch patterns, including national parks designs both large and mini, and travel poster style designs for many US states and cities. (There’s not an Arkansas, which is my standard test since I live there, but there is a pattern of the Mississippi River bridge in Memphis, which is technically half in Arkansas.)

If you’re more of a world traveler you’ll find more of the travel poster style designs for cities and countries, including Thailand and China, Berlin, Sydney and Marrakech.

In addition to all of that, you’ll find patterns called retro, which includes a wide range of designs, but many seem to be food and coffee related; folk art designs (lots of flowers and birds); and famous paintings translated to cross stitch. Smaller categories include Christmas, Halloween, animals, kids and castles.

Check out all the fun designs at Unique Stitch Crafts on Etsy.

[Photo: Unique Stitch Crafts]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?