Witch at Her Cauldron Cross Stitch Pattern
By Cross Stitch Library · October 10, 2026
HalloweenAdvancedFree
A free cross stitch pattern of a grinning old witch in a green robe and patchwork headscarf, holding up a squirming goblin beside her bubbling golden cauldron. Rated Advanced: 26,423 full cross stitches in 22 DMC colors, finishing at 15.7" x 17.2" on 14-count Aida.
↓Your pattern is at the end of this page, right after the stitching guide below.
- Stitch Count
- 220 x 241
- Finished Size
- 15.7" x 17.2"
- Thread Colors
- 22 DMC
- Stitches Used
- Full cross stitch
About this witch cross stitch pattern
The witch sits cross-legged with wild gray hair escaping her headscarf, a gap-toothed grin, a knife in one hand and a furious green goblin held up by the arm in the other. Her cauldron bubbles beside her, smoke curling up from the fire. It’s a caricature, with an exaggerated face and a theatrical pose, so it reads as darkly funny rather than frightening.
It’s for people who like their fantasy with humor and an edge: a kitchen or game-room wall, or a gift for a cook, a tabletop gamer or anyone whose friends call them a bit of a witch. It works for Halloween but isn’t tied to October. Next to the Witch Kitten with Skull and Pumpkins, you have a witch and her familiar; our witchy Halloween round-up has more.
What you need
- Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 22“ x 24“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
- Thread: 22 DMC colors, about 30 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 939 Navy Blue – Very Dark (7,693 stitches), 561 Jade – Very Dark (5,999) and 562 Jade – Medium (3,204).
- Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
- Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.
Difficulty and stitching time
It’s rated Advanced. The green robe is built from two jades outlined in navy, and those big areas move quickly. The face and headscarf carry the detail, with wrinkles, teeth and a patchwork of colors, and that’s where most of the 22 colors are used.
At 26,423 stitches, expect roughly 265 to 440 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour. Read our guide to planning a large cross stitch project before you start.
Tips for stitching this pattern
- Thread one needle per scarf color. The headscarf packs 553 Violet (232 stitches), 322 Baby Blue – Dark (161), 3830 Terra Cotta (160) and 3821 Straw (143) into a small area. Park the unused needles at the edge of the fabric instead of ending off every few stitches.
- Do the face before the robe. The expression is the joke; once it’s right, the long rows of jade on the robe are relaxing stitching.
- Buy the navy from one dye lot. 939 Navy Blue – Very Dark outlines the whole figure and is the most-used color, so a change of lot would show along the edges.
Size, fabric and framing
On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 15.7“ x 17.2“ (39.9 x 43.7 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 13.8“ x 15.1“, and on 18-count at 12.2“ x 13.4“. For the 14-count version, an 18“ x 24“ frame leaves room for a mat.
An ornate dark frame suits the storybook-villain mood, and half the fabric is bare, so the figure has room to breathe.
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
