Smiling gingerbread man
- Easy
- 42×49 stitches
- 3 DMC colors
- ≈ 3 skeins
- Aida 14: 7.6×8.9 cm
A cheerful gingerbread man with red buttons in just three DMC colours. The icing bands are bare fabric, so your cloth sets their colour.
- Size
- 42×49
- Stitches
- 1,060
- DMC colors
- 3
- Skeins
- ≈ 3
- Level
- Easy
- Time
- ≈ 11 hours
No sign-up · colour and b/w · works with Pattern Keeper
Smiling gingerbread man pattern: description
This gingerbread man cross stitch pattern is free to download and needs only three DMC threads, which makes it one of the easier Christmas cross stitch patterns for a first project. The shapes are large and there are few small details.
Where to start on the gingerbread man
Begin with the dark outline of the head in DMC 938. The head is the biggest closed shape on the chart, and the neck, arms and legs are easy to count from it. Stitch the eyes and the smile while that thread is in your needle. They take only a few stitches, but an eye one square out of place changes the whole expression, so count them twice.
With the outline closed, the rest is filling. DMC 434 covers the head, body and limbs in 684 stitches of calm work, the sort you can do during a Christmas film. The three buttons in DMC 347 come to just 32 stitches. Stitch them first if you want a landmark down the middle of the figure, or leave those gaps in the fill and add them at the end.
The bands at the wrists and ankles
The white icing stripes on the arms and legs are bare fabric framed by the outline. There are four of these areas, and they are the easiest place to go wrong, because after a few rows of brown your hand wants to keep going. Check the chart before you carry on into each hand or foot.
Since the fabric shows there, its colour decides the colour of the icing. White Aida gives white sugar bands. Ivory looks softer and warmer. Red or forest green turns them into coloured stripes and suits a bright card, although the background of the whole piece changes with them. Avoid very dark cloth, where the 938 outline would sink out of sight.
What to make with it
On 14-count Aida the figure measures 7.6 by 8.9 cm and takes about 11 hours, so there is plenty of time before the holidays. Give it a felt back and a ribbon loop for a tree ornament, glue it to the front of a Christmas card, turn it into a gift tag or leave it in a small hoop. Several in a row on a strip of Aida will dress up a stocking cuff or the edge of a shelf.
The main colours are DMC 434 Brown Light (65%), DMC 938 Coffee Brown Ultra Dark (32%), and DMC 347 Salmon Very Dark (3%). On 14-count Aida it comes out at 7.6×8.9 cm, on 18-count at 5.9×6.9 cm. You'll need about 3 skeins of DMC floss.
Made in the PatternHoop editor: width 42, 3 colors. Photo and pattern under CC BY 4.0: share and use them, crediting «PatternHoop (patternhoop.com)».
- Where to start
- the centre: stitch 21, row 25
- Stitched area
- 7.6×8.9 cm on Aida 14
- Aida 14 to buy
- 18×19 cm
- Chart pages in the PDF
- 1 colour + 1 b/w
Shopping list
DMC floss for the Smiling gingerbread man pattern
Tick the threads you already have at home.
| I have it | Color | DMC | Name | Stitches | Skeins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| symbol ■ | 434 | Brown Light | 68464.5% | 1 | |
| symbol □ | 938 | Coffee Brown Ultra Dark | 34432.5% | 1 | |
| symbol ▲ | 347 | Salmon Very Dark | 323% | 1 |
- 434 Brown Light1 skein
- 938 Coffee Brown Ultra Dark1 skein
- 347 Salmon Very Dark1 skein
Every DMC thread color with its number — in the palette
The Smiling gingerbread man pattern by zones
It's easier to stitch in parts: here is what each third of the height holds.
Toprows 1–16
266 stitches · 25%
- DMC 434 · 70% Brown Light
- DMC 938 · 30% Coffee Brown Ultra Dark
Middlerows 17–33
492 stitches · 46%
- DMC 434 · 65% Brown Light
- DMC 938 · 28% Coffee Brown Ultra Dark
- DMC 347 · 7% Salmon Very Dark
Bottomrows 34–49
302 stitches · 28%
- DMC 434 · 58% Brown Light
- DMC 938 · 42% Coffee Brown Ultra Dark
The Smiling gingerbread man pattern on different fabric
| Fabric | Embroidery | Inches | Fabric with margin | Strands | Needle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aida 11 | 9.7×11.3 cm | 3.8×4.5″ | 20×21 cm | 3 strands | size 22 |
| Aida 14 | 7.6×8.9 cm | 3×3.5″ | 18×19 cm | 2 strands | size 24 |
| Aida 16 | 6.7×7.8 cm | 2.6×3.1″ | 17×18 cm | 2 strands | size 26 |
| Aida 18 | 5.9×6.9 cm | 2.3×2.7″ | 16×17 cm | 2 strands | size 26 |
How to stitch the Smiling gingerbread man pattern in 4 steps
Prepare the fabric
Cut Aida 14 to 18×19 cm: 5 cm of margin on every side.
Sort the threads
The pattern uses 3 DMC colors: lay the skeins out by the numbers in the table above.
Start in the centre
Find the middle of the fabric and of the chart: the PDF marks the centre with arrows on the page edges.
Mark your progress
Cross off finished areas on the printout, or open the PDF in Pattern Keeper.
Questions about the Smiling gingerbread man pattern
3 DMC colors, about 3 skeins in all, stitched with 2 strands on 14-count Aida.
42×49 stitches: 7.6×8.9 cm on 14-count Aida, 5.9×6.9 cm on 18-count.
For Aida 14, a piece of 18×19 cm: the design plus 5 cm on every side for the hoop and framing.
The pattern has 1,060 stitches — roughly 11 hours at 100 stitches an hour.
Yes. The symbols in the PDF are text, so Pattern Keeper reads the chart and the legend.
Yes, in the PatternHoop editor: upload a photo, pick the size and the number of colours, and the pattern is ready in a second, for free.
