Pink Rose Cross Stitch Pattern

About this rose cross stitch pattern

The rose is fully open, its overlapping petals spiraling in toward the center, with a curving stem and several leaves below. The petals are worked in five shades of dusty pink rather than one flat color, which gives the bloom its depth while keeping a clean, graphic look.

The rose is the flower every stitcher makes at least once, and it’s a quick anniversary or Mother’s Day gift. For a small floral wall, pair it with the Tulip or the Daffodil; the floral collection has more. It’s the Mother’s Day pick in our spring patterns round-up.

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: 16 DMC colors, about 16 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 963 Dusty Rose – Ultra Very Light (753 stitches), 223 Shell Pink – Light (494) and 761 Salmon – Light (426).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. Every stitch is a full cross, but the petal shading is what lifts it past a beginner piece: five closely related pinks (963, 223, 761, 3354 and 151) make up about two-thirds of the design. Sorting them correctly is the real skill here. Expect roughly 30 to 50 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Lay the pinks out in order. Put 963, 223, 761, 3354 and 151 in a strip from lightest to darkest next to your hoop. Under warm indoor light they look almost the same, and a physical order saves constant checks of the color key.
• Finish the petals before the leaves. The leaves use a separate set of greens (966, 895 and 320, with touches of 3815 and 522), so stitch them afterwards instead of switching between pinks and greens.
• Watch the single stitches. 3022, 561, 520 and 502 are used once each; circle them on your chart so they don’t get missed.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 5.0“ x 5.3“ (12.7 x 13.5 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 4.4“ x 4.6“, and on 18-count at 3.9“ x 4.1“. For the 14-count version, an 8“ x 10“ frame leaves room for a mat.

It’s nearly square, so it also suits a 6-inch hoop, and a cream mat softens the pinks nicely.

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