Olympic Rings Cross Stitch Pattern

I don’t think that I’m alone in loving the Olympics, especially the Summer Games. The excitement of the athletes and the fans is contagious! The non-stop coverage provides great background for crafting. During the Beijing Olympics, I worked on a Chinese street scene in cross stitch. This time I’ve been stitching a scene of Venice.

Yesterday I thought it would be fun to make a quick, Olympics-inspired piece, so I searched the internet for a pattern. I was surprised not to really find anything. Since the thought appealed to me so much, I opted to create my own Olympic Rings pattern. I collect embroidery patterns, so I knew that I wouldn’t have any problems finding a simple, symmetrical “O.” I then completed a Google Image search for the Olympic Rings for the correct color order and overlapping. Here’s a link to my Olympic Rings Pattern.

With my pattern created, I found a small scrap of 28 ct. white fabric and chose the colors for the rings. I stitched the rings over two threads with two strands of floss. Once they were done, I thought they needed a little pizzaz. I’ve always thought of back stitching as the mascara of embroidery. It adds that last touch of definition that you really miss when you don’t have it. Because the pattern is so simple, I chose to outline the rings in metallic floss. Gold seemed the obvious choice. This is the Olympics after all!

This project is so simple that you should easily be able to complete it during one evening of Olympic viewing. Use materials you already have. Find a scrap of leftover fabric like I did. Pick your own colors from your pre-existing stash. Substitute 310 for the metallic thread in the back stitching. Happy stitching AND viewing!

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