Cross-stitch color palettes

A soft light-to-medium skin range for portraits, faces and hands on pale complexions.

Warm medium-to-deep skin shades with rich shadow browns for darker complexions.

A complete face palette — highlight, skin, shadow, hair and outline — for stitched portraits.

Blonde through brown to black, plus auburn and gray, for stitching realistic hair.

Aqua-to-deep-navy blues for seas, lakes, skies and anything that needs water.

A full run of leaf and pine greens, light to dark, for foliage, trees and gardens.

Tans through chocolate browns for fur, hair, tree trunks, timber and earth.

Purple blooms over sage-green stems and a golden horizon — a whole lavender-field scene.

Sun-baked sands, terracotta and dusty sage — warm Southwest earth tones.

Deep emeralds and bright turquoise with hot flower pops for tropical, vivid designs.

Bright turquoise and sea-green water with living coral and apricot for underwater scenes.

Golds, rusts and burnt oranges for fall foliage, pumpkins and cozy seasonal makes.

A warm pale-yellow-to-red sweep for skies at golden hour, gradients and ombré.

True holiday reds and greens with gold and white — for ornaments, stockings and cards.

Icy blues, snow white and silver-gray for snow scenes, frost and cool winter designs.

Pumpkin orange, deep violet, poison green and black for spooky seasonal patterns.

Soft blush through deep rose and garnet — romantic reds and pinks for hearts and flowers.

Inky blues and violets with a spark of white for star fields, space and midnight scenes.

Gentle pinks, lilacs and sky blues for flowers, baby designs and spring samplers.

Dusty, low-saturation tones for antique-look samplers and softly aged designs.

Saturated primaries across the spectrum for bold, cheerful, high-contrast patterns.

Muted rosewood caps, cream and sage — the cozy, earthy cottagecore mushroom look.

An even light-to-navy blue run for blue-willow, delft and classic blue-and-white makes.

Soft gray-greens fading to deep pine — the calm, muted sage look.

Blush and mauve over warm linen for a romantic, faded-rose scheme.

Pale aqua-greens through deep teal — cool, glassy and coastal.

Smoky lilacs and heather violet for a soft, dreamy dusk palette.

Pale blush warming into copper and oxblood — soft with a metallic glow.

Peachy apricot and clay for a warm, sun-washed terracotta feel.

Warm browns, slate blue and off-white — a mysterious boho mix.

Deep chocolate, sand, sage and moss — a layered earthy boho palette.

Cool cloud grays deepening to navy — soft, overcast and calm.

Chalky pinks warming into deep coral — a soft, sun-faded warm scheme.

Sun-bleached sand and driftwood taupes for relaxed coastal makes.

Warm cream through toasted sand and umber — natural, gallery-neutral.

Pure white through black in even steps — ideal for black-and-white photo conversion.

Warm greiges, taupes and soft browns — the quiet backbone of almost any scene.

Warm cream through black-brown in even steps — for vintage, sepia-toned photo conversion.