Patchwork Teddy Bear with a Honey Jar Cross Stitch Pattern

About this teddy bear cross stitch pattern

A teddy bear sits with its legs out in front, made from mismatched patches: one side of its head is dark brown, the other golden, and its body and paws mix tan, green, orange and gray-blue pieces joined by little cream seam stitches. It wears a green and orange striped scarf and holds a jar with a cloth lid tied on top and orange and yellow stripes inside, like honey.

It looks like a well-loved toy that has been mended over the years, which makes it a good gift for a new baby or for anyone who still keeps their childhood bear. Pair it with the Hedgehog in a Knit Sweater for a cozy nursery wall; our nursery round-up has more ideas.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 11“ x 12“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 21 DMC colors, about 21 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 938 Coffee Brown – Ultra Dark (908 stitches), 543 Beige – Ultra Very Light (767) and 676 Old Gold – Light (469).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate because each patch is a different color, so you change thread often across a small area. At 3,752 stitches it takes roughly 38 to 63 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour, and about 28% of the fabric stays bare.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Outline every patch in 938 first. 938 Coffee Brown – Ultra Dark (908 stitches) draws the bear’s outline and the edges of the patches. With it in place, each patch is a small shape to fill with one color.
• Leave the seam stitches as gaps. The cream “stitching” across the patches is single stitches of 543 Beige – Ultra Very Light (767 stitches in all, including the muzzle and the tummy). Skip those squares as you fill the patches, then add the cream in one pass.
• Stitch the scarf stripes together. 520 Fern Green – Dark (131 stitches), 3363 Pine Green – Medium (116) and the orange 402 Mahogany – Very Light (297) alternate along the scarf. Working the scarf in one sitting keeps the stripes even.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 4.6“ x 5.7“ (11.7 x 14.5 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 4.1“ x 5.0“, and on 18-count at 3.6“ x 4.4“. An 8“ x 10“ frame leaves room for a mat.

Stitched on 18-count it fits a 5“ hoop, small enough to hang on a crib-side 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