Sunshine Cross Stitch: 4 Sun Patterns and How to Check a Chart

Last updated: October 7, 2026

A sun reads as a sun in cross stitch because of two things: a round disc and rays of unequal length. Get the disc round and alternate long rays with short ones, and two yellows will carry the whole motif. Make every ray the same and you have stitched a wheel.

That is the part free charts never mention. You get a photo of a finished hoop and a PDF with no stated size, and you find out how many colours it wants only when you stand at the floss rack.

I stitch from charts that print their count and colour list on the first page. That is why I buy rather than hunt, and you can skip the hunting too: sun charts with a stated stitch count and colour list are one search away.

What makes a sun read as a sun

Four marks decide it. All four are placement rather than skill, so you can get them right on the first try.

• A round disc. Make it at least seven stitches across. Below that your disc turns into a square with its corners knocked off.
• Rays of unequal length. You alternate long, short, long, short. I use eight rays on a small motif and twelve on a large one.
• A gap between disc and rays. Leave one empty square all the way round, or you will see the rays melt into the disc.
• Diagonal rays that step. A diagonal ray is a staircase of single crosses. Keep it to one cross per step, or you get a bent ray.

Cheeks, a smile and spots of light are decoration and go on last. A face on a sun is the fastest way to a charming motif and the fastest way to a muddy one.

Any feature smaller than two squares disappears on 14 ct, so you leave it out.

Colour does less than you expect. A single yellow disc with rays in the same yellow already reads as a sun, and the second shade only adds depth. A chart that names its yellows by DMC number lets you test that before you buy.

Disc first, then the gap, then the rays. Everything after that is colour choice, and colour choice is where free charts get expensive.

Why free sun charts fail you

Sun charts are everywhere, and almost none of them tells you what it costs in thread. You usually get one PDF and one hoop photo, with no stitch count on the page and no list of floss numbers.

Five faults come up again and again in what stitchers report back:

None of that is about your counting. It is about the chart.

You can see all of it in a minute, before you thread a needle. A catalogue that prints the count, the colour list and the licence on every file removes the question instead of answering it.

Three colours or 27: what a sun costs in thread

Size does not tell you how much thread you will need. Four sun charts from the same results page, set side by side:

The biggest of the four uses three colours. The smallest finished piece uses twelve.

That gap is worth more than any preview photo. Colours are what you carry home from the shop, and each extra shade is another skein and another symbol for you to track.

My rule for a first sun is simple. Pick under ten colours, full crosses only, no fractional stitches. Anything above twenty is a project for a winter, not an evening. A sun chart that states its colour count lets you decide before you buy floss.

What you need: aida, two strands, three yellows

• 14 ct aida. The count every number on this page assumes. Divide the stitch count by 14 for the finished size in inches.
• Two strands of floss for full crosses on 14 ct. One strand leaves the fabric showing through the disc.
• Three yellows at most for a first sun: a light, a mid and a deep gold for the shadow side. Add one orange for a sunrise.
• A hoop you can hold in one hand. A motif this size never needs a frame, so you can stitch it on the sofa.
• The chart on paper, not on a screen. You will mark off rows, and marking off rows is what stops the count drifting.

Start every sun from the centre of the fabric and the centre of the chart, because you cannot hide a lopsided disc. Count the first row twice.

A miscount on row three shows up on row forty. A chart with its centre marked on the grid saves you that evening.

1. The classic sunshine, a disc with rays

This is sunshine cross stitch in its default form: a round disc, a clear gap, rays alternating long and short. It is the motif almost everyone means when they search for it.

Build it in this order.

Disc first, from the middle row outward, so it comes out round. Then the gap, which is just counting. Then the long rays, then the short ones between them. A face, if you want one, goes on after everything else.

Keep it around 70 stitches wide and it finishes at 5 inches on 14 ct.

That sits inside a small hoop with room for your fingers. Three colours are enough: a light yellow for the disc, a deeper gold for the shadow on one side, and one orange for the long rays.

The deeper gold is the colour people skip. It turns a flat yellow circle into a disc with a curve.

If you are choosing between two charts, the one whose colour list names that second yellow is the one to buy.

2. Small sun cross stitch: the one-inch motif

The smallest useful sun fits in a square of about 14 stitches by 14, which lands near one inch on 14 ct. Disc seven stitches across, one gap, eight short rays. Two colours.

That is a small sun cross stitch pattern you can finish in an evening.

It is where this motif earns its keep: a bookmark corner, a keychain, an ornament, a row along the hem of a bag. You will notice every cross doing a job, because there is nothing to hide behind.

Skip the face at this size. A smile one stitch wide just reads as a flaw in the disc, and the rays do all the talking anyway.

I repeat the same tiny sun in three colourways rather than stitch three different charts. A row of a yellow, an orange and a pale lemon looks designed, much as a row of tiny mushrooms does.

A small sun chart you may legally stitch for someone else is the one worth repeating.

3. Sunrise cross stitch pattern: half a sun on a horizon

A sunrise is a half disc sitting on a straight line, with rays fanning upward only. That is why it is easier to chart than a full sun and harder to stitch: there is nothing to hide an uneven edge.

The horizon is one straight row. Stitch it first, in your darkest shade, so the disc has something to sit on. Then work the half disc upward from the centre, and finish with the fan of rays.

A sunrise earns its colours from the sky. A flat background of one colour keeps the chart near ten shades.

Set it behind a small cross stitch house and you have a landscape from two motifs. A gradient of bands is what pushes a sunrise up to the thirties. A beginner sunrise 74 stitches wide by 103 high is charted with 12 colours and no backstitch at all, which finishes at about 5.3 by 7.4 inches on 14 ct.

Rays in a fine line instead of crosses are a different chart.

One small sunset design stitches the sun in crosses and draws every ray in backstitch, 68 stitches by 64 and under five inches across. The chart has to say which it is, so look for a sunrise chart that labels every ray as cross or backstitch.

4. You are my sunshine: the sun with words

The fastest-growing sun motif on Pinterest is not a plain sun at all. It is a small sun above the line you are my sunshine, and its searches are rising while the plain sunshine searches slip.

Lettering changes the rules for you. A line of text needs to be at least five stitches tall to stay legible on 14 ct, and seven is kinder. Space the letters one stitch apart, and leave one letter’s width between words.

Put the sun small and above the words.

If it is as wide as the text, the two compete and neither reads. Stitch the letters in one colour and the sun in two, and you have a three-colour chart.

This is the motif that most often turns into a present: a nursery frame, a card, a wedding gift. It pairs well with a small heart motif on the same band.

That is why the licence matters here more than anywhere. A you are my sunshine chart with a stated licence is the only safe one to stitch for someone else, or to sell.

Check your chart before the first stitch

You can catch every fault in the table above in about a minute, before your needle goes in.

1. Find the stitch count. Width and height, in stitches, stated by the designer. No count stated, no stitching: that chart is a picture.
2. Divide by 14. That gives you your finished size in inches on 14 ct. Add two inches each way for the hoop.
3. Count the colours. Under ten for a first sun. A chart that looks like two yellows and lists 27 is a project, not an evening.
4. Look at the symbol key in grey. Print one page without colour. If two yellows are now the same symbol, the chart is unusable however pretty the preview is.
5. Check the page edges and the rays. Every page of the PDF should carry its own grid border, and the chart should say whether rays are crosses or backstitch.

Free charts rarely pass more than two of those five.

That is before the licence question. Most say nothing about whether you may sell the finished piece, which matters the moment someone offers to buy the hoop off your wall.

Questions people ask about sunshine cross stitch

How to cross stitch quicker?

Choose fewer colours, not fewer stitches. A sun in three colours takes you an evening, and the same sun in 27 takes a month.

Every colour change means a new thread and a new place to lose your count. Work a row of half stitches first and cross them on the way back.

Can you steam cross stitch?

Yes, from the back. Lay the finished piece face down on a folded towel and hold a steam iron just above it. Let the steam do the work. Never press down on the face of the stitches, which flattens them.

How many colours does a sun need?

Two is enough for a small sun: you use a yellow disc and a deeper gold for the rays. Three if you want shadow and a sunrise glow. Anything advertised as easy and carrying dozens of shades is mislabelled.

What size does a sun chart finish at?

Divide the stitch count by your fabric count. A chart 112 stitches wide on 14 ct finishes at 8 inches; the same chart on 18 ct comes out around 6 inches. Add two inches of spare fabric on every side for the hoop.

Should sun rays be cross stitch or backstitch?

Crosses for a bold, quick sun; backstitch for fine rays. You work backstitch in one strand, and last. The chart must say which rays are which, or it is not finished.

What fabric count should I use?

Use 14 ct aida for your first sun. You can see the holes easily, two strands fill a cross properly, and the arithmetic from chart to finished size is one division.

Can I sell what I stitch from a free chart?

Not unless the chart says so. Most free sun charts are silent on it, and you should not read silence as permission. A chart with a stated licence is the only safe one to stitch for someone else.

Key takeaways

• A round disc, a one-square gap and rays alternating long and short are what make a sun read as a sun.
• Colour count, not size, decides the thread you buy: sun charts of similar size run from 3 colours to 34.
• Stitch count divided by 14 is the finished size in inches on 14 ct aida. No stated count means no chart.
• Under ten colours and full crosses only is a first sun; above twenty is a winter project.
• The one-inch sun, around 14 stitches square, becomes bookmarks, keychains and ornaments in an evening.
• A sunrise is half a disc on a straight row; a gradient sky is what pushes it past thirty colours.
• The growing sun motif is the one with words, and lettering needs five to seven stitches of height.
• Print one page in grey before you start. Symbols that differ only by colour fail on paper.
• When you would rather stitch than audit, start from charts that state count, colours and licence and keep your checking for the fabric.

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