Bride and Groom Swans Cross Stitch Pattern

About this wedding swans cross stitch pattern

Two round white swans lean their heads together on a large lily pad. The bride on the left wears a long sheer veil and a delicate gold crown, and a lace pattern covers her wing and chest. The groom wears a black bow tie. Both have orange beaks and bright pink cheeks, and the lily pad below them is shaded in four greens.

Swans pair for life, which makes them a popular wedding and anniversary symbol. This design is wider than it is tall, so it sits well over a bed or on a mantel. It pairs with the Wedding Mice in a Ring Box, and our bird cross stitch patterns round-up compares it with other birds. For more couples, see our Valentine and love patterns.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 18“ x 16“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 19 DMC colors, about 22 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are B5200 Snow White (3,829 stitches), 168 Pewter – Very Light (3,557) and 3363 Pine Green – Medium (2,818).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. The swans are mostly white and pale pewter, and the lace on the bride’s wing alternates those two colors stitch by stitch, which takes careful counting. At 15,304 stitches it takes roughly 153 to 255 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Count the lace in small blocks. On the bride’s wing and chest, B5200 Snow White and 168 Pewter – Very Light swap every few stitches. Work 10 x 10 squares at a time and check each block against the chart before moving on.
• Don’t skip the tiny colors. Four colors are used for only a few stitches: 676 (10), 677 (7), 938 (6) and 3047 (1). They sit in the crown and the beaks. Mark them on the chart before you start, so you buy all 19 colors and don’t miss them.
• Stitch the lily pad one green at a time. 3363 Pine Green – Medium (2,818) is the base, with 561, 471 and 890 for the veins and shadows. Finishing each green across the whole pad before the next one keeps the shading even.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 11.8“ x 10.0“ (30.0 x 25.4 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 10.3“ x 8.8“, and on 18-count at 9.2“ x 7.8“. A 12“ x 16“ frame, hung landscape, leaves room for a mat.

The white swans need contrast around them: a pale green or dove-gray mat sets them off better than a white one.

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