Red Fox Curled in Autumn Leaves Cross Stitch Pattern

About this red fox cross stitch pattern

The fox sleeps nose to tail in a tight circle, nestled in a ring of orange and russet oak leaves, bare twigs and acorns. Because the whole composition is round, it works as seasonal wall art from across the room even before you notice the sleeping fox at its center.

It’s a fall-decor piece first and an animal portrait second, and a good housewarming gift timed for autumn. Stitch it with the Hedgehog in a Knit Sweater for a pair of cozy fall woodland pieces; our fox round-up compares it with the other foxes.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 19“ x 18“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 23 DMC colors, about 27 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 310 Black (4,926 stitches), 920 Copper – Medium (3,071), 3853 Autumn Gold – Dark (2,838) and 3777 Terra Cotta – Very Dark (2,197).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Advanced. Black and Copper – Medium cover 7,997 of the 18,869 stitches, but the real difficulty is the wreath: five autumn shades (3853, 3777, 3854, 830 and 833) weave around the full circle, and losing your place partway around breaks the color rhythm visibly.

Expect roughly 190 to 315 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Stitch the fox first. With the central figure finished, you have a fixed point to count outward from, which matters on a circular border where one early miscount throws off the whole ring.
• Work the wreath in quarters. Treat it like a clock face and complete one quarter at a time instead of circling it in one pass.
• Separate the oranges. 920 Copper – Medium, 3853 Autumn Gold – Dark and 3854 Autumn Gold – Medium sit side by side in the fur and the leaves; label them on your floss card.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 12.6“ x 11.4“ (32.0 x 29.0 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 11.1“ x 10.0“, and on 18-count at 9.8“ x 8.9“. For the 14-count version, a 14“ x 18“ frame leaves room for a mat.

The round composition is made for a large hoop or a round frame. Our framing guide covers mounting it in either.

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