GOOD THINGS IN SMALL PACKAGES
There are many beautiful cross-stitch patterns out there - intricate, detailed, elaborate, tons of colors. But really - who has time to complete something like that? If your goal is getting your projects done, you've come to the right place! I've collected lots of great sources for you with mostly free small cross-stitch patterns of varying complexity. Browse through and enjoy! I'll be continually updating and adding so don't forget to check in regularly.
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: MY CRITERIA
What I was looking for in patterns
- Size - Anything below 100 stitches I defined as small. Many of the ones I found are more in the 30-50 stitch range. Exceptions were made for long narrow designs that would work nicely on towels, bookmarks, borders, etc.
- Sufficient detail - I wanted things that had shading and a certain level of complexity. Small doesn't have to mean boring or primitive.
- Unique design - There are only so many yellow duckies you can do before you start to fall asleep. I wanted designs that didn't look like everything else out there.
- Free!! - Do I need to explain this one? :-)
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: FLORALS
Pretty flowers in pink, yellow, blue, lavendar
- Summer Border - Simple clusters of flowers that can be done as a border or as a stand alone design. Might make a nice bookmark. 32Wxx118H
- Orchid Hawaiian Delight - Lovely little design that can be repeated to make a border. 30Wx40H
- 17 Floral Charts - Designs like crocus, bird of paradise. Varying complexity and beauty. Need to register for the site to get the chart.
- Texas Bluebonnets - Hand-drawn pattern with lovely results.
- Flower Basket - Nice little basket design with a border around it. Have to add to cart, then download, but it is free.
- Spring Bouquet - Free pattern from DMC floss company. 38Wx51H
- Peony bookmark - Pink peony in a white and blue Chinese vase. 33Wx84H
- Asters in a vase - Lovely set of asters in a tall vase. 56Wx78H
- Sunflower in Pot - Large-headed sunflower in a little terracotta pot. 46Wx71H
- Violets - Trio of violets.
- Peace Flowers - Peace bro and some flowers on you as well. 65Wx69H
- Pansies - Three pansies in row. 80Wx57H
- Spring Flowers - Lovely little bouquet. 51Wx45H
- Spring in the Garden - Design from the 1997 issue of the Needleworker. Roughly 35Hx100W
SHOWING OFF THOSE CROSS-STITCH PROJECTS
80th II
80th
Tubeskirt, Tropenmus...
Flower Wallet
Butterfly
it's TRUE!
Details on Earthdanc...
Details on Earthdanc...
Details on Earthdanc...
cross-stitch
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: PATTERN BOOKS
Cross Stitch Embroidery Small Figures, Leisure Booklets
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009) 
Small Scale Embroidery: In Cross Stitch and Other Techniques (Crafts)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
Celtic Cross Stitch: Over 40 Small, Exciting and Innovative Projects
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
Sue Cook's Bumper Cross Stitch Collection: 12 Pictures and Hundreds of Motifs to Celebrate the Year
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
120 Celebration Cross Stitch Cards
Amazon Price: $18.24 (as of 07/06/2009)
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: ANIMALS
- Chickens - Two chickens hanging out. 70Wx58H
- Bunnies and birds - Checkerboard bunny and four seasonal bird designs. All in the 57Wx57H range.
- I Love My Dog - How about you? A cute pooch deserving of love. 62Wx58H
- Whale Spraying - Cute whale lets off a spout of joy. 98Wx100H
- Rabbit Hyacinth - Shy little bunny hides behind a potted flower. 41Wx45H
- Cat at the Lighthouse - Black cat looking out the window at the lighthouse in the distance. Roughly 47Wx58H
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: MAGAZINES
Jill Oxtons Cross Stitch & Bead Weaving
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $49.52 (as of 07/06/2009)
Usually ships in 2 to 4 months
Cross Stitch Collection
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $108.75 (as of 07/06/2009)
Usually ships in 2 to 4 months
Cross Stitcher
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $21.97 (as of 07/06/2009)
Usually ships in 2 to 4 months
Cross Country Stitching
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 07/06/2009)
Usually ships in 2 to 4 months
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: CHRISTMAS
- Gingerbread Man Scissors Fob - Smiling little gingerbread man could also be used for an ornament. 27Wx46H
- JOY Ornament - Joy with an ornament making the 'O'. 51Wx68H
- Christmas Angels & Designs - A design for each year from 1986-2005. Mostly angels, but a few of the Madonna and Baby Jesus.
- Happy Holidays Snowman - Cute snowman with a bird on his shoulder. 67Wx79H
- Trumpets - Christmas trumpets designed for a bookmark. 15Hx87W
- Waiting for Santa - Little birds decorate their birdhouse in anticipation of a visit. 37Wx51H
- Helper Elf - Everybody can use an extra hand during the holidays! 90Wx106H (Click the designer's name to see more of her stuff. Quite cute!)
- Holiday Heart - Lovely heart wreath that can be used to make an ornament.
- Angels Galore! - Seven cute flying angels that would make nice ornaments if done on perforated paper.
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: BLOG BLAB
- Why No Knots In Cross Stitch? - Craft
- Why No Knots In Cross Stitch? - One thing beginning stitchers are sure to hear when they ask advice from an experience stitcher is "No knots!" When securing floss in Cross Stitch, different methods are used....
- Awesome pixel-art in cross-stitch form - Boing Boing
- Cross-Stitch Ninja's Flickr stream is a bottomless well of pixellated delights. Shown here, the CCTV cameras worked into the border of the "You Are Not Alone" sampler, and there's plenty of other lovelies, like the Super Mario maps, ...
- Adorable Muslimah: Wearing: Rich Cross Stitch Blouse (Code: LO04)
- Wearing: Rich Cross Stitch Blouse (Code: LO04). Measurement (inches") : Size: M |shoulder 14.5|chest 17|hip 18|arm length 20.5| |blouse length 29| Material: silky cotton (high quality material) Hand Cross Stitch on the material ...
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: ALPHABETS
- Free Patterns Online - 45 different ones, including Greek.
- Monograms - Make your own monograms for towels and more.
- Bear ABCs - Teddy bears snuggle up to capital letters that you can change to whatever color you need.
- Nautical Alphabet - Letters with the different nautical signal flags
- Christmas Alphabet - Classic serifed letters wearing Santa hats.
- Beach Letters - Capital letters with different beach/marine motifs like whales, shells and the like.
- Antique Alphabets - French book that's been scanned in with some neat alphabets that can be used and adapted for cross-stitch purposes. Several pages worth and some pretty cool borders as well.
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: SHOW YOUR PRIDE
Addicted to Cross Stitch Jr. Raglan
Price: 22.99
Crafter's 2.25" Button
Price: 4.74
Born to be a Cross Stitcher Yellow T-Shirt
Price: 19.99
CROSS STITCH DESIGNS
Cool designs from Zazzle available on a ton of products!!
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: HOLIDAYS
Other than Christmas
- Valentine's Day - Be Mine, Cupid and lots of hearts.
- Easter - Bunny, chick and eggs.
- Fourth of July - Flag, stars, patriotic hearts.
- Halloween - Scary ghosts and pumpkins galore.
- Pumpkin Moon - Pumpkins and a rising moon. 55Wx55H
- Halloween Sampler - Black cats, spiderwebs, pumpkins and witches mark this holiday design. 75Wx92H
- Spring 2000 - An adorable bunny with tulip says hi to a butterfly. 53Wx36H
- Smell My Feet - Cute design with the common Halloween mantra. 97Wx99H
- Hip Hip Hooray - Teddy, bunny and kitty celebrate Independence Day. 65Wx41H
CROSS-STITCH PATTERNS AND SUPPLIES
Bid until your craft closet is full!!
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: OTHER DESIGNS
Just some stuff I liked
- Square of colors - A square with kind of a kalidescope design. 58Wx58H
- Antique Fire Engine - Cute little truck complete with driver. 122Wx74H
- Snowman Winter - Snowman, snow shovel and snowflakes all say Winter.
- Snowman Square - Nicely done chart of a snowman with a square on point as border.
- Coffee - Start the day off right with a cup of joe. 68Wx62H
- Summer Tree - A tire swing and lots of green leaves definitely make this a summer time tree. 45Wx46H
- Crayon Bookmark - Six crayons make a colorful bookmark design. 29Wx82H
- Baby Girl and Baby Boy - Birth announcements in pink and blue. Both 70Hx51W
- Heart & Flowers - Detailed little heart designed for use in a card. 34Wx31H
- Careless Love - French-style clown dropping hearts from the pile in his hands. 100Wx100H (check her other designs for two more clowns in the series.
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: RELATED ITEMS
Easy Cross-Stitch Pattern-a-Day: 2008 Day-to-Day Calendar
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
Cross Stitch Religious Italian Charms Bracelet Link
Amazon Price: $23.98 (as of 07/06/2009)
Cross Stitch Design Studio (Jewel Case)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: SITES TO EXPLORE
Find that special something you're looking for
- Artecy
- Lots of nice little designs available here, along with others. Generally, the small cross-stitch patterns are in the $2 range and available for online delivery.
- Rainbow Gallery
- Lots of great small patterns include a couple of series of the months of the year, some holiday designs and others.
- Stitch Alley
- I have a few of their 177 free designs listed above. You can only download one free design at a time without making a purchase and have to register with the site to do so. But these are some great small designs that might be worth your while!
SMALL CROSS-STITCH: WATCH AND LEARN
STITCHERS EVERYWHERE SAY ...
Got a source for small cross-stitch patterns that I might have missed? Want to share your joy for cross-stitching? Just want to comment on my lens? Leave your mark here!
Kheng wrote...
I love cross stitching and I love your lens! I visited many of the sites you have listed but it always seem different through another's eyes. I've favourited it too!
Posted September 12, 2008
Tiddledeewinks wrote...
I've done some cross-stitch in the past, but mostly I'm into sewing lately, and now especially hand stitching with felt, but Squidoo takes most of the hours I should be sleeping!
Posted July 29, 2008
Jobanjo wrote...
Love the lens. Smaller patterns are great for taking on my travels! :)
Posted June 19, 2008
browndog21 wrote...
Cross Stitch is one of my favorite ways to relax. I favorited this page!
Posted June 12, 2008
ALL MY LENSES
Like this lens? Want to see what else I've done? Here's my lensography.-
SusanVillasLewis
-
Well, probably for my mom and my husband. But I guess the rest of you won't love me just for existing. So here's more about me, links to my various lenses, thoughts on future lenses and just the general randomness that is Susan. This will forever be...
by SusanVillasLewis
I've been crafting since elementary school when I was introduced to the joys of plastic canvas. (Gotta love the 70s!) Since then, have made too many c...
(more)
