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A lot of hobbies come with a lot of expenses. Cross stitch can be rather affordable! Floss is often around $0.50 per skein even for the name brand stuff. When I started out, I went through Vipon and got a coupon code to buy a big cross stitch beginners kit that had 50 skeins (plus a few pieces of aida cloth, needles and a few other supplies) for about $8!

So I’d advise checking Vipon to see if they have a coupon code for that still. However, even if they don’t, the kits at full price on Amazon are typically around $20. At the moment there is an $18 kit that includes 100 colors of floss, 5 embroidery hoops, 3 pieces of aida, 30 needles and more.

That is enough floss to last for dozens of projects. It’s seriously everything you need to start cross stitch other than a pattern, and the rest of this post is sharing ways to get free cross stitch patterns!

Many cross stitch patterns will tell you custom colors to purchase in the DMC brand, but for more basic patterns you can roughly match with really affordable thread instead.

For example, I used this free cross stitch pattern of an elephant and picked my own colors seems how each item in the pattern was a single shade more elaborate patterns that are designed to show depth or shadows would actually require custom colors. When I have used custom patterns that required custom floss, I’ve used 123stitch.com to order DMC floss and was happy with the service they provided.

Places to find free cross stitch patterns:

1. Free cross stitch patterns on Pinterest! I’ve found an incredible amount of cross stitch patterns right on Pinterest. Some of them are actual cross stitch patterns, while others are perler bead patterns but those work just as well for cross stitch, as they essentially break a design down into colored squares which is what cross stitch patterns do as well. I have a cross stitch board that has lots of patterns on it. If you repin some that appeal to you, Pinterest will start recommending other pins that are relevant to you.
2. Daily Cross Stitch is a website that offers one free pattern per day. You can bookmark it and check back daily, or you can sign up for their email. I subscribe and they send me the pattern via email every day. They don’t send me any other emails so it’s not spammy. You do have to ‘purchase’ the pattern by checking out on their website, but you don’t have to put in any credit card info because the order is entirely free.
3. Deviant Art. Use the search bar to look up cross stitch pattern and you’ll find plenty.
4. Amazon e-books. There are some FREE cross stitch pattern ebooks on Amazon for those with kindle unlimited.
5. The cross stitch subreddit offers free cross stitch patterns sometimes. Here is a link to the pattern flair that features patterns.
6. DMC has a free cross stitch patterns category.
7. Bad Ass Cross Stitch has some free patterns.
8. The Spruce crafts has a great free cross stitch pattern index.
9. 123Stitch has a free pattern section.
10. Artecy offers 2 free patterns at a time.
11. Sprite Stitch offers free patterns often with “geeky” themes.
12. Cyber Stitches has over 1,000 free patterns.
13. Country Living offers one free pattern per month.
14. Free X Stitch curates free cross stitch patterns.
15. Design your own! If you can draw (or have something to trace) you can use 10×10 graph paper to design your own pattern.
16. Social media sites. Search ‘free cross stitch pattern’ on sites like Twitter, Facebook or blogging sites and you’ll find cross stitchers, pattern makers or groups sharing free patterns they’ve found.
17. Ask around to family or friends who have retired from cross stitching. I had no idea this craft used to be so popular, but after talking about how I started cross stitching, I had multiple family members tell me how they used to do it but stopped. If they have leftover patterns and/or supplies they may be happy to hand them down to you.
18. Fandom Cross Stitchery – modern cross stitch patterns with a geeky, feminist twist.
19. FTD has a free sunflower embroidery pattern if you’re interested in trying embroidery, instead! 

Not free, but almost:

1. Second-hand craft magazines. Finding craft or embroidery themed magazines at yard sales or thrift shops is a really cheap way to get patterns. It’s not unusual to find a box of magazines for a dollar or two!
2. Second-hand pattern books. Books at yard sales or thrift shops tend to sell for anywhere from .25 to $1 per book. If you find a yard sale with pattern books, that’s a really cheap way to get a lot of almost-free patterns.
3. A lot of Etsy shops sell their patterns for around $2-$3 per pattern.

Do you have other locations for finding free cross stitch patterns? Feel free to share in the comments!

Emily

Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.

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