Wizard Owl with Star Wand Cross Stitch Pattern

About this owl cross stitch pattern

The owl looks out with huge round eyes from under a pointed purple hat, wrapped in a deep blue cloak with gold trim, and holds a star-tipped wand up as if mid-spell. The eyes do most of the work, giving it a gentle storybook feel rather than anything spooky.

It’s a good fit for a nursery, a child’s bookshelf or anyone who loves cozy fantasy. For a bigger bedtime piece with an owl, see the Elf Child and Owl on the Moon; our nursery round-up has more ideas.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 12“ x 12“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 25 DMC colors, about 25 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 939 Navy Blue – Very Dark (1,403 stitches), 3860 Cocoa (355) and 517 Wedgwood – Dark (264).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. Navy Blue – Very Dark alone covers over a third of the design, which gives you a big, confident starting block, but 25 colors means more organizing than a beginner piece. Expect roughly 40 to 65 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Stitch the navy first. 939 covers the most stitches and gives you a clear boundary to work the owl’s face and feathers against.
• Work both eyes side by side. B5200 Snow White and 01 Tin – White make the eyes and the feathers around them; stitching both eyes together lets you catch any drift and keep them symmetrical.
• Save the purples for last. 553 Violet, 552 Violet – Medium and 209 Lavender – Dark build the hat; they read most clearly once the navy and gold around them are in.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 5.4“ x 5.9“ (13.7 x 15.0 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 4.7“ x 5.1“, and on 18-count at 4.2“ x 4.6“. For the 14-count version, an 8“ x 10“ frame leaves room for a mat.

A navy or gold frame matches the cloak, and it also fits a 7-inch hoop for a bookshelf.

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