22 Oct 2024

Try at home: puffin cross stitch

A small cross-stitched puffin design on some cream aida. A needle threaded with orange thread lies beside it.

Our puffin cross stitch, inspired by a 19th-century sampler at Leith Hall

This puffin cross stitch pattern has been inspired by a spot motif sampler from the National Trust for Scotland’s collection at Leith Hall, which you can see as part of the Stitched exhibition in Edinburgh. The sampler was also created using cross stitch and dates to around 1800.

What you’ll need

Your pattern – download and print it from our website
Embroidery threads in black, white, red and blue
Cross stitch fabric (aida, evenweave or linen – we recommend aida for beginners)
Embroidery needle
Scissors
Highlighter pen (optional)

A cross stitch pattern, four skeins of embroidery threads, a square of aida fabric, a pair of red needlework scissors and a needle holder are all arranged on a grey mat on a wooden table.

Method

1. Start stitching the black section of the pattern first. Cut a length of black embroidery thread (around 30cm long) and then separate its strands. You will use two strands at a time for your cross stitch. Thread your needle with two of the strands and tie a knot at the far end. Now you can begin cross stitching.

2. Start by stitching the middle row, marked on the pattern with a triangle at each end. There are six black stitches in this row. Choose a hole in the middle of the fabric and then bring the needle through that hole from the back, so the knot sits behind your stitch on the reverse side of the fabric. Make a diagonal stitch using the hole immediately to the top right of the one you started with. Repeat (stitching from left to right) until you have a row of six diagonal stitches.

A row of black diagonal stitches on a piece of cream aida fabric lies beside a paper pattern for a cross stitch puffin. Arrows mark the centre line on the paper pattern.

A row of 6 diagonal stitches in black thread on aida fabric, with the two stitches on the right turned into cross stitches. A needle is passing through the fabric.

3. When you get to the end of this first row, bring your needle back through the fabric from the back to the front, using the hole immediately below your last stitch. Cross over your last stitch to make a small x and then work back towards the start of the row, crossing over each existing stitch with another one to make an x.

4. At the end of that row of six crosses, move down the pattern to the next row, which has seven black cross stitches, and then the row below that, which has eight black cross stitches. A highlighter pen can be useful to track the stitches you’ve already completed.

A completed row of 6 cross stitches in black thread on cream aida fabric, and the row directly below beginning with diagonal stitches heading to the right.

Part of a cross stitched pattern on cream aida is shown on the left, and a paper pattern of a puffin is shown on the right. Some of the lines on the pattern have been coloured with yellow highlighter, corresponding to the rows that have already been stitched on the fabric.

5. Continue copying the pattern, carefully counting the stitches in each row as you go along. When you reach the end of a section and need to change to a different colour, you can secure the thread on the reverse of the fabric by carefully threading the needle through the back of the stitches.

A needle with black thread passes through the reverse of some neat black stitches on a piece of cream aida.

Securing the thread on the reverse

6. There are 160 cross stitches in total in this pattern. Don’t worry if you make a mistake – you can always unpick a few stitches and then start that section again. Enjoy cross stitching your wee puffin!

To see over 80 inspirational embroidered textiles, visit Stitched: Scotland’s Embroidered Art at Dovecot Studios, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh from 25 October 2024–15 January 2025.

Stitched puts spotlight on 200 years of textiles