Fox Cross-Stitch Patterns: Six Free Charts, From a Hallway Fox to a Celtic Explorer

We have six fox cross-stitch patterns now, and they’re more different from each other than “fox” suggests. One is a tall panel for beside a door, one is a circle made for a hoop, one is a 25,666-stitch fantasy explorer. Here’s how they compare, so you can pick the one that fits your wall and your patience.

The Two Scarf Foxes for Fall

The newest is the Red Fox Holding a Maple Leaf: a standing fox in a green knit scarf, holding up a leaf, with a satchel over its shoulder. It finishes 9.2“ x 11.9“ on 14-count, so it fits a standard 11“ x 14“ frame with a small mat, and at 11,787 stitches in 13 colors it’s the quickest fox here to finish. The background is left as bare fabric, which keeps the bright orange fur crisp.

Its cousin is the Red Fox Peeking Around a Door, in a mustard scarf, leaning out from behind a plank door. The shape is the point: 8.3“ x 13.5“ is tall and narrow, made for the strip of wall next to a doorframe. Be ready for brown — one color, DMC 839, covers 6,384 of its 13,730 stitches, all of it the door.

A Fox for a Round Hoop

The Red Fox Curled in Autumn Leaves is the one to choose if you want to finish in a hoop instead of a frame. The fox sleeps nose-to-tail inside a circular wreath of oak leaves and acorns, so the whole design is already round. At 12.6“ x 11.4“ it needs a 14“ hoop to leave room for the fabric to wrap around the back. It’s rated Advanced for a reason: 23 colors and 18,869 stitches, with the leaves built from several close reds and rusts that sit right next to each other.

Foxes for a Kids’ Room or for Winter

The Little Fox Drawing with a Crayon lies on its tummy in a green sweater, tail up, concentrating on a doodle. It’s the only landscape-format fox — 14.0“ x 9.1“ — which makes it a good fit over a bed or a low bookcase. We included it in our nursery and kids’ room round-up for that reason.

For something you can leave up past November, the Baby Fox in a Winter Beanie sits on a frosty pine branch under an oversized knit hat. It’s square, 12.4“ x 12.4“, but more open than it looks: only about 40% of the grid is stitched, the branch and snowy needles drawn against bare fabric. The catch is the palette — 25 colors for 12,422 stitches means a lot of thread changes for its size.

The Big One: Rowan the Celtic Explorer

Rowan the Celtic Explorer Fox is the largest pattern of the six by a wide margin: 224 x 240 stitches, 16.0“ x 17.1“ finished, 25,666 stitches in 21 colors. Rowan wears round steampunk goggles and a green traveler’s coat, and the mane is drawn as curling Celtic knotwork rather than fur. It belongs with the badger wizard and the druid in our cozy woodland fantasy round-up.

Our Recommendation

If this is your first fox, start with the Red Fox Holding a Maple Leaf. It has the fewest stitches and colors of the six and fits a frame you can buy anywhere. If you’ve already finished a large piece and want a long project for the winter, go straight to Rowan — but read our guide to planning a large cross-stitch project first, since at over 25,000 stitches it needs a plan for floss and fabric before you start. The two scarf foxes also hang well together with the other animals in our fall animal round-up, and when you’re done, our guide to finishing and displaying your stitching covers hoops as well as frames.