Strawberry Thief Cross Stitch Pattern (Free PDF)
Strawberry Thief, the 1883 textile by William Morris: pairs of thrushes among flowers and strawberries on a deep blue ground. Morris is said to have based it on the birds stealing fruit in his kitchen garden. The pattern repeats, so you get into a rhythm as you stitch.
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What you need
The full chart is 130 stitches wide and 84 high: 10,920 full cross stitches in 23 DMC colors, rated advanced. On 14-count Aida, cut a piece at least 15.5 × 12 in (39 × 31 cm), which leaves 3 in spare on every side, and a 14-in hoop holds the whole design. Some colors need more than one skein, so check the table.
| DMC thread | Stitches | Spread over | Thread | Of a skein | If it is out of stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 791 Cornflower Blue Very Dark | 1,994 | 492 areas | 26.6 m | 111 % | 158 Cornflower Blue Very Dark |
| 3799 Pewter Gray Very Dark | 1,169 | 296 areas | 15.6 m | 65 % | 844 Beaver Gray Ultra Dark |
| 779 Cocoa Dark | 1,131 | 332 areas | 15.1 m | 63 % | 838 Beige Brown Very Dark |
| 3861 Cocoa Light | 887 | 95 areas | 11.8 m | 49 % | 3859 Rosewood Light |
| 939 Navy Blue Very Dark | 815 | 241 areas | 10.9 m | 45 % | 336 Navy Blue |
| 792 Cornflower Blue Dark | 531 | 161 areas | 7.1 m | 30 % | 158 Cornflower Blue Very Dark |
| 3802 Antique Mauve Very Darkv | 513 | 163 areas | 6.8 m | 28 % | 221 Shell Pink Very Dark |
| 08 Driftwood Dark | 500 | 211 areas | 6.7 m | 28 % | 3781 Mocha Brown Dark |
| 333 Blue Violet Very Dark | 391 | 122 areas | 5.2 m | 22 % | 158 Cornflower Blue Very Dark |
| 3772 Desert Sand Very Dark | 381 | 74 areas | 5.1 m | 21 % | 3773 Desert Sand Dark |
| 3740 Antique Violet Dark | 330 | 112 areas | 4.4 m | 18 % | 3835 Grape Medium |
| 3746 Blue Violet Dark | 306 | 112 areas | 4.1 m | 17 % | 30 Blueberry Medium Light |
| 154 Grape Very Dark | 269 | 94 areas | 3.6 m | 15 % | 35 Fuschia Very Dark |
| 3858 Rosewood Medium | 239 | 31 areas | 3.2 m | 13 % | 355 Terra Cotta Dark |
| 610 Drab Brown Dark | 235 | 77 areas | 3.1 m | 13 % | 3790 Beige Gray Ultra Dark |
| 451 Shell Gray Dark | 234 | 93 areas | 3.1 m | 13 % | 07 Driftwood |
| 3860 Cocoa | 221 | 102 areas | 2.9 m | 12 % | 3781 Mocha Brown Dark |
| 3726 Antique Mauve Dark | 178 | 73 areas | 2.4 m | 10 % | 3721 Shell Pink Dark |
| 777 Raspberry Very Dark | 150 | 19 areas | 2.0 m | 8 % | 221 Shell Pink Very Dark |
| 315 Antique Mauve Medium Dark | 149 | 60 areas | 2.0 m | 8 % | 221 Shell Pink Very Dark |
| 632 Desert Sand Ultra Very Dark | 120 | 51 areas | 1.6 m | 7 % | 434 Brown Light |
| 823 Navy Blue Dark | 116 | 35 areas | 1.5 m | 6 % | 336 Navy Blue |
| 3041 Antique Violet Medium | 61 | 29 areas | 0.8 m | 3 % | 3835 Grape Medium |
Thread for 2 strands on 14-count (how it is worked out).
Reading this chart
The center of the chart is column 65, row 42, a Cocoa Light stitch.
Pewter Gray Very Dark has the largest connected block, 140 stitches. Cornflower Blue Very Dark is the most scattered: 1,994 stitches in 492 separate spots, 222 of them single stitches.
A row uses about 71.5 separate runs of thread on average; the busiest is row 41, with 86. Only 0 % of the grid stays bare, so the fabric color barely shows.
Budget roughly 54.5 hours to 109 hours (how we estimate that). New to charts? Read how to read one.
Finished size
| Fabric | Finished size | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| 11-count | 11.8 × 7.6 in | 30.0 × 19.4 cm |
| 14-count | 9.3 × 6.0 in | 23.6 × 15.2 cm |
| 16-count | 8.1 × 5.2 in | 20.6 × 13.3 cm |
| 18-count | 7.2 × 4.7 in | 18.3 × 11.9 cm |
Ideas for using it
- Cushion front
- Framed Arts and Crafts piece
- Gift for a William Morris fan
Stitching tips
- Finish one repeat fully before starting the next: the rest gets much faster.
- Stitch the pale birds after the dark blue so they stay clean.
- Fits a cushion well: on 14-count it is about 9 in wide.
About the artwork
This chart is based on Strawberry Thief by William Morris (1883), which is in the public domain. Image source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain). We made the chart with our own pattern maker, which reduces the picture to a grid of stitches and a set of DMC threads, so expect a simplified version of the original rather than an exact copy. It has not been stitched by us, so check the preview and try a small area first.
Free for personal use, and you may sell a few pieces you stitched yourself. Details in the terms.
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