Sweet Apple Cross Stitch Patterns

Whether you’re stitching up apples for back to school or just because you love fall, these apple cross stitch patterns look like lots of fun to stitch.

These teensy apples still bring a lot of detail even as each one is stitched a little smaller. LeSelva Design calls this set of three small + smaller + tiny, and they all use 10 colors. The biggest is 30 by 32 stitches, while the smallest is 15 by 16, and the one in the middle is 19 by 22.

Another cute little classic apple design is this one from Bella Rose Craft. It uses just three colors (you could also stitch the little white shine if you want) and measures 2.21 by 2.57 inches on 14 count fabric (which is 5.6 by 6.5 cm).

This pretty sampler from Wonder Stitch UA almost has a Christmas feel to it because those flowers look a little like poinsettias to me. You could stitch them in a different color if you feel the same way. As is the design uses 11 colors and measures 95 by 93 stitches. If worked on 14 count fabric your design will be about 6.8 by 6.6 inches, or 17.3 by 16.9 cm.

Stitch a kaleidoscopic apple design in red and green with this pattern from Daily Cross Stitch. This one calls for seven colors and is 79 by 79 stitches. On 14 count fabric that 5.64 inches, or 14.3 cm square.

These modern apples from Happy Cross Stitchers are a lot of fun, and you could stitch an individual apple in a little hoop frame for a cute teacher gift. The full design is 102 by 108 stitches and uses six colors, so each apple isn’t very large. If you stitch the whole project in one piece it will measure about 7.2 by 7.7 inches or 18.5 by 19.5 cm on 14 count.

Go realistic with this pretty ripe apple cross stitch pattern from 1000s Patterns. Designed by Lubov Vodenikova, this pattern uses 22 colors and five blends, and measure 57 by 46 stitches. It uses full stitches and back stitching, and comes out to 4.05 by 3.26 inches, or 10.3 by 8.3 cm on 14 count fabric.

Or go the opposite direction with this geometric apple from Velvet Pony Design. This one is done in greens but you could also make it red if you’d rather. Either way, it calls for 14 colors and is 80 by 79 stitches. That’s about 4.3 inches or 11.3 cm square on 18 count fabric, which is what is shown in the sample.

Long ago when I was in 4-H, the club made a quilt for our leader when she was having a baby. It was made of green and white blocks and some of the white blocks had four-leaf clovers cross stitched on them.

That’s the one and only time I remember using waste canvas to cross stitch on fabric, but I think about it a lot when I consider stitching on other fabrics that don’t have built in blocks.

Using waste canvas allows you to superimpose a grid onto fabric so you can follow a cross stitch pattern and stitch on the fabric, then remove the waste fabric, leaving just the original fabric and the stitching behind.

It’s relatively easy to use, but it’s great to have a tutorial and some tips to work from the first time you do it. I think we were just winging it honestly but it turned out fine in the end.

There’s a great post with lots of photos over at Koekoek that shows you how to set yourself up for waste canvas stitching success, how to actually do the stitching and how to remove the waste canvas. They call that part fun but I don’t agree as far as I can remember. I think the tediousness of pulling out the waste canvas threads is a big part of what has kept me from getting more and using it in different projects.

I’d love to add a bit of cross stitch to some clothing, or to a piece of fabric to then sew into a pillow or another project. (They show a pillow in the blog post, but you could also do this to make cloth napkins, a tablecloth or any number of other projects.) Maybe reading all about it will motivate me to give it another try!

Have you ever worked with waste canvas? I’d love to know how it went.

[Photo: Koekoek]

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