Free Christmas Cross Stitch Patterns: 15 Real Designs

Every November I get the same itch: find a Christmas pattern I can start that weekend, not one I have to wait on shipping for or one that turns out to be a screenshot with no chart behind it. I’ve lost an evening or two to “free pattern” roundups that link to dead blogs, expired downloads, or patterns that were never actually free to begin with. So this list is the opposite of that: real, currently available Christmas designs from designers whose full catalogs live in StitchLand’s own pattern stash, starting with the one that’s genuinely free.

Quick answer: Truly free, professionally charted Christmas cross stitch patterns are rare, most independent designers price even small ornament patterns at $5 to $12 because charting takes real time. Below is one genuinely free pattern to grab right now (Lindy Stitches’ “Sugar Plum Dreams”), followed by fourteen real, currently sold Christmas designs worth the few dollars they cost, pulled from nine different designers in StitchLand’s pattern stash. If you want to browse for more free patterns yourself, the stash lets you filter by price across its full library of designers.

This list is for anyone who wants to cast on a Christmas project tonight, not scroll through five roundups of expired downloads first. Every pattern below links directly to where you can buy it, whether that’s the designer’s own shop or a reseller carrying their patterns.

What “free” actually means in cross stitch patterns

A cross stitch pattern is a charted grid, usually built by hand in specialized software, color-matched to a specific floss brand, and tested by stitching it before release. That’s real work, and most designers price accordingly even for something as small as a two-inch ornament. When a designer does release something free, it’s usually a limited-time promotion, a newsletter thank-you, or a deliberately simple design meant to draw new stitchers into their shop. Those do exist, they’re just less common than roundup posts sometimes suggest, and worth grabbing the moment you find one.

The genuinely free pattern to grab first

Sugar Plum Dreams by Lindy Stitches is a 131 by 110 stitch design, currently listed free in the designer’s catalog. It’s a full-size piece rather than a tiny ornament, which makes it an unusually generous freebie as these things go. If you’re testing out a new fabric count or just want to start a Christmas project tonight without spending anything, this is the one to open first.

Real Christmas patterns worth the few dollars they cost

Once you’re past the one free option, the rest of this list is patterns priced between $5 and $12, small enough that most stitchers treat them the same way they’d treat a free pattern: pick a few, start stitching, and not think twice about the cost.

Not Even a Mouse by Lindy Stitches ($5, 55 by 47 stitches) is an ornament-sized design pulled from a “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” themed set, small enough to finish in a weekend and cheap enough to grab two or three at once.

Merry Meowmas Biscornu by Stitchy Prose ($8, 60 by 60 stitches on the top and bottom pieces) turns four holiday icons, Santa, a reindeer, a snowman, and a gingerbread man, into a set of cat-shaped biscornu pincushions. Charted for 32-count Colonial Parchment linen with DMC floss.

Merry Beard Season by Lindy Stitches ($8, 65 by 90 stitches) is a Santa-themed design built around exactly the pun you’d expect from the title, playful without being twee.

Christmas Cat by The Artsy Housewife ($12, 83 by 103 stitches) is a straightforward, well-proportioned cat-in-a-Christmas-scene design, a good pick if your stitching pile already leans toward cat patterns the rest of the year.

Christmas Sweater Trio by Stitchy Prose ($11, 119 by 80 stitches) charts three holiday sweaters side by side, without any of the actual laundry. Designed for 32-count Snow Drifts fabric with a mix of DMC and ThreadworX floss.

Love & Joy by Lindy Stitches ($10, 156 by 68 stitches) pairs Santa and a reindeer in a wide, banner-style layout that reads well stitched as a long ornament or ledge sitter.

Reindeer Games by Lindy Stitches ($12, 104 by 107 stitches) is a squarer, more detailed reindeer design, a solid mid-size project if the ornament patterns feel too quick and you want something with more stitching time in it.

Santa Paws by Stitchy Prose ($12, 140 by 140 stitches) is the largest piece on this list, a full Santa scene charted for 14-count Opalescent Aida using Cottage Garden Threads and DMC. Worth setting aside as your main December project if you want something more substantial than an ornament.

Those nine were the first pass through the stash. Here are six more from designers with very different styles, from classic sampler work to a beach-themed curveball.

2025 Schooler Santa by Prairie Schooler ($7) has Santa mid-snowball-fight under the words “Oh What Fun It Is,” the newest entry in a Santa design the designer has released every year for over a decade. If this one sells out, the stash usually has past years’ Santas still floating around too.

Deer Santa by Kathy Barrick ($9, 155 by 149 stitches) puts Santa on a moon with reindeer and stars, stitched in silk over 36-count for finer detail than most ornament-sized patterns on this list. A DMC conversion comes with the chart if silk isn’t your thing.

Merry Snowman by Lucy Beam ($10, 69 by 72 stitches) uses actual sequins for the snowflakes, a nice bit of texture if you want something beyond flat stitching. French knots work fine as a substitute if sequins aren’t your style.

Christmas Market – Ornament Stand by Country Cottage Needleworks ($7.50, 55 by 59 stitches) is one piece of an 11-month series of coordinating market-stall designs, an easy pattern to build into a bigger collection if you like the style enough to keep going.

Joy to the World by Tiny Modernist ($9, 100 by 100 stitches) is a bright, vintage-inspired lettering ornament, a good pick if the sampler-style pieces above feel too traditional and you want something more graphic.

Merry Beachmas by Pickle Barrel Designs ($10) swaps snow for sand: palm trees, sandcastles, and crabs in Santa hats, for anyone who’d rather stitch a beach Christmas than a white one.

Where to find hundreds more

These fifteen are a starting point, not the whole list. StitchLand’s pattern stash holds real patterns from dozens of independent designers, including the full Lindy Stitches, Stitchy Prose, The Artsy Housewife, Prairie Schooler, Kathy Barrick, Lucy Beam, Country Cottage Needleworks, Tiny Modernist, and Pickle Barrel Designs catalogs these picks came from, and it’s searchable by theme and price if you want to keep digging for more Christmas designs or find what else is free right now.

Picking fabric and floss for any of these

Once you’ve picked a pattern, our fabric calculator will tell you exactly how much fabric to cut and which hoop or frame will fit, based on the stitch count and fabric count you’re using. For floss, the floss usage estimator works out how many skeins of each color you’ll need before you buy, and if a pattern calls for a hand-dyed brand you don’t have on hand, our floss conversion charts can find you the closest DMC match.

Frequently asked questions

Are these patterns actually free to download?
Only Sugar Plum Dreams is currently free. The other fourteen patterns are real, paid designs priced between $5 and $12, which is standard for independent cross stitch designers. We’ve been upfront about which is which rather than calling everything “free” to chase the search term.

Where do I buy the paid patterns on this list?
Each pattern above links directly to where it’s sold, either the designer’s own shop or a reseller carrying their patterns. You can also browse every designer’s full catalog through StitchLand’s pattern stash.

Can I make my own free Christmas pattern instead?
Yes. Our free letter and alphabet generator lets you chart a custom name, date, or short message in a holiday font, useful for a quick personalized ornament without buying a full pattern.

What fabric count works best for a small ornament pattern?
Most ornament-sized designs like the ones above stitch well on 14 or 16-count Aida or 28 to 32-count evenweave. Run the exact stitch count through our fabric calculator to see the finished size at your preferred count before you cut fabric.

I’m Laura, and I write StitchLand’s guides on patterns, materials, and everything else that comes up between the first stitch and the last. If you’re stocking up on floss for any of these, our cross stitch floss guide covers DMC, hand-dyed brands, and how to convert between them, and our pattern stash has hundreds more real designs to browse once you’ve worked through this list.