Cameo

About the Design

This Cameo pattern captures a woman's silhouette in profile, her hair and shoulders rendered in solid black against a warm cream ground. The simple two-tone palette gives the piece a clean, portrait-cameo feel reminiscent of vintage keepsake jewelry, making it a striking addition to any needlework collection.

Skill Level and Time

Charted on a 50 by 50 grid, the design works up quickly thanks to its bold color blocks and beginner-friendly difficulty rating. With 621 stitches total, most stitchers can expect to complete the piece in around five hours, making it an ideal weekend project or a first introduction to cross stitch.

Palette and Materials

Only two colors are needed for this piece: black and white (shown here as ecru), though the full palette option includes red, tangerine, topaz, kelly green, royal blue, medium violet, ecru, pearl grey, light steel grey, and dark steel grey for stitchers who want to experiment with alternate colorways. The minimal color count keeps thread changes to a minimum, letting the silhouette's shape do all the visual work.