Duckling in a Ghost Costume Cross Stitch Pattern

About this ghost duckling cross stitch pattern

The duckling has huge dark eyes, rosy cheeks and a ghost sheet draped over its back, and it carries a grinning pumpkin pail full of sweets. Tiny smiling ghosts, stars and candy corn float in the space around it. It’s Halloween without any fright: the expression alone rules out anything scary.

It works as a porch or entryway piece each October, or as a gift for someone who collects cute seasonal designs. For a gentle Halloween wall, pair it with the Flower Crown Ghost and the Witch Cat on a Broomstick; our cute patterns round-up has more.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 18“ x 19“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 18 DMC colors, about 21 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 17 Yellow Plum – Light (4,526 stitches), 939 Navy Blue – Very Dark (3,447), BLANC White (2,199) and 741 Tangerine – Medium (1,644).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. The duckling’s yellow and the navy outline cover 7,973 of the 16,935 stitches, so the big areas go quickly. The part that takes care is the ghost sheet, where BLANC White and 168 Pewter – Very Light sit directly against each other to shade the folds.

Expect roughly 170 to 280 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Count the sheet’s folds carefully. BLANC White and 168 Pewter – Very Light are close on the fabric, and a misplaced stitch blurs a fold line. Work that section in good light and check each row against the chart.
• Try the outline last on this one. The 3,447 stitches of 939 Navy Blue – Very Dark trace every edge. Stitching it after the fills keeps the crisp kawaii edge from being roughed up by fill threads catching under it.
• End off between the little ghosts. The small ghosts and candy corn are scattered across bare fabric; finish your thread after each one instead of carrying it across, or it will show through.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 11.3“ x 12.6“ (28.7 x 32.0 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 9.9“ x 11.0“, and on 18-count at 8.8“ x 9.8“. For the 14-count version, a 14“ x 18“ frame leaves room for a mat.

An orange or black mat picks up the pumpkin pail and makes the yellow duckling pop.

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