Baby Dragon with a Glowing Crystal Cross Stitch Pattern

About this baby dragon cross stitch pattern

A round-bellied green dragon sits with its tail curled around in front, clutching a pointed yellow crystal against its chest. It has big dark eyes, a small smile, cream horns, folded wings with orange tips and a row of orange spikes down its back. The crystal is shaded from pale yellow to gold so it looks lit from inside.

At under 4“ by 5“ on 14-count it’s one of the quicker fantasy designs to stitch, which makes it a good gift for a child who loves dragons or a tabletop player’s desk. For a bigger fantasy piece in the same friendly style, try the Wizard Owl with Star Wand; more small, sweet designs are in our cute cross stitch round-up.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 10“ x 11“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 20 DMC colors, about 20 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 09 Cocoa – Very Dark (687 stitches), 3851 Bright Green – Light (380) and 955 Nile Green – Light (319).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate because of its greens. Four of them (3851, 955, 913 and 912) shade the body, and they sit side by side in small patches rather than big blocks. At 2,387 stitches it takes roughly 24 to 40 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour, so the size itself is easy; the color changes are what slow you down.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Start with the 09 outline. 09 Cocoa – Very Dark is 687 stitches, almost a third of the design. It draws the outline, the eyes and the claws, and once it’s in, every green patch is a closed shape you can fill.
• Keep the four greens on a labeled card. 3851 Bright Green – Light (380 stitches), 955 Nile Green – Light (319), 913 Nile Green – Medium (274) and 912 Emerald Green – Light (185) are close enough to swap by mistake under lamplight.
• Stitch the crystal last, lightest to darkest. The glow comes from 744, 725, 676 and 3852 placed in a few dozen stitches each. Working them after the green paws around it keeps the crystal’s facets crisp.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 3.9“ x 4.7“ (9.9 x 11.9 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 3.4“ x 4.1“, and on 18-count at 3.1“ x 3.7“. An 8“ x 10“ frame leaves room for a mat.

It’s also small enough to finish as a 5“ hoop for a bookshelf or a game shelf.

What’s in the free PDF

• A cover page and a one-page overview with a preview of the design
• The chart, split across as many printable pages as you choose, in color or black and white, with a symbol for every DMC color, center lines, a mini-map showing which part of the design each page covers and a color key on every page
• The thread list: DMC number, color name, number of stitches and skeins to buy for each color
• The finished size on 11-, 14-, 16-, 18- and 28-count Aida