Cross Stitch Pattern Search Trends: A 12-Month Look

If you make or sell charts, timing matters. A cross stitch pattern finished in June meets a different crowd than one finished in November.

We pulled 12 months of US search data from Google Ads Keyword Planner, October 2025 to September 2026, on 3 November 2026. Kits swing 2.7 times between peak and low. Halloween swings 11 times. Pattern makers swing about 1.5.

This is a read of the numbers. We can only see the searches, not the reasons behind them.

When do people search for a cross stitch pattern?

Here is each term's Keyword Planner 12-month average, with the highest and lowest months we saw.

Table 1. US monthly searches, October 2025 to September 2026. Averages are Keyword Planner's own. Peaks and lows are read from the monthly series. Data pulled 3 November 2026.

The plain term is steady. The plain term sat at 27,100 for most of the spring and summer, and rose to 40,500 in December and January. That is about 1.5 times.

Which terms swing the most?

Three stand out.

Kits. Cross stitch kits reached 60,500 in November and December, then slid to 49,500 in January and 33,100 in February. They bottomed at 22,200 in April and May, then climbed back to 33,100 by July. The top is 2.7 times the bottom. We cannot see why. The pattern fits a gift-giving season, but that is our reading, not something the data shows.

Halloween. Halloween cross stitch is the most seasonal term here. It reads 1,600 in October 2025, then falls to 260 in November and 170 in December. It stays between 170 and 260 through March, creeps to 390 in June, then climbs: 1,000 in July, 1,600 in August and 1,900 in September 2026. The high is 11 times the low.

Free patterns. "Free cross stitch patterns" is flat at 9,900 in most months. It jumped to 14,800 in January and dipped to 8,100 in June. One spike is not a trend.

Tools and software have seasons too. Pattern Keeper fell to 1,900 in June and July 2026 and reached 4,400 in four months, a gap of 2.3 times. Cross stitch software went from 880 in December to 390 in September, also 2.3 times. We would not guess why.

Small terms jump in steps, because Keyword Planner rounds. "Cross stitch app" goes 720, 880, 1,000, 1,300. A move between steps may be real, or just a rounding edge. Keep that in mind.

"Our collection includes over 700 needlework samplers ranging from as early as the 1400s, to pieces stitched in the 20th century."

Victoria and Albert Museum, Embroidery: a history of needlework samplers

Cross stitch is old, and a year of searches is a small window. Treat these patterns as what happened this year, not as a law.

Is interest in a cross stitch pattern maker growing?

We cannot say. Here is why.

Searches for "cross stitch pattern maker" were 9,900 in October 2025 and 12,100 in September 2026. That looks like growth, but it is not a fair test. The term moves with the calendar: it hit 14,800 in December and January, and dropped back to 9,900 in February, April and June. To call it growth you need the same month in two different years. We have one year.

Two other things to know.

First, Keyword Planner reports identical figures for "cross stitch pattern maker" and "cross stitch chart maker". They appear to be grouped. Do not add them together. The same goes for the generator search, which ranged from 720 to 1,300 and peaked in January.

Second, "cross stitch app" went the other way on paper: 880 in October 2025, 720 in September 2026. With a rounded step that small, we would not read much into it.

Tools people already know are far bigger than any generic term. Stitch Fiddle averages 49,500 searches a month and Pattern Keeper 3,600. That is a view of name searches, not of who is better. For how the tools compare, see our best cross stitch pattern maker post and our Stitch Fiddle alternative guide.

What should makers do with this?

Some plain moves follow from the numbers. These are our suggestions, not findings.

1. Finish before the peak. Kits and the plain pattern term climb in November and December. A chart you want people to find in November should be live well before then.
2. Plan seasonal charts early. Halloween searches had already reached 1,000 by July 2026. A Halloween chart finished in June meets that rise from the start.
3. Use the slow months to make. Kits hit their low in April and May. That is a good time to build charts, test them and stitch them.
4. Do not chase one spike. "Free cross stitch patterns" jumped for a single month. Build for the steady level, not the blip.

If you are making your own charts, the quiet months are when to learn the settings. Our pattern generator settings test shows what width and colors do to one photo.

How to read this data

A few limits, stated plainly.

• The source is Google Ads Keyword Planner, US, English, October 2025 to September 2026.
• The figures are estimates. They are rounded and group close variants of a term.
• Averages in Table 1 are Keyword Planner's own. We did not compute our own.
• Peaks and lows come from the monthly series. Where several months tie, we list them.
• It is a year of data. It shows seasons, not long-term growth.
• It says what people typed, not what they wanted.

Planning a chart for next month? Try the Threadhood pattern maker with your own photo. It is free in a browser, and you can have a first chart in minutes.