Instant cross stitch PDF
Cat with a Pearl Earring
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Cat with a Pearl Earring - a funny famous art cross stitch pattern PDF. Vermeer's masterpiece restaged with one very serious black cat in a blue turban.
She has the tilt of the head, the sidelong look over the shoulder and the single pearl drop - and the face of a cat who has been asked to hold still for far too long. The palette follows the original: a warm ochre and gold jacket, a deep blue and buttercup-yellow headscarf, and a soft slate-grey ground - the Baroque palette of the original, simplified into full cross stitches. It is a museum joke you can actually stitch, and it hangs just as happily in a hallway as it does over a desk.
🧵 PATTERN DETAILS - Stitch count: 110 x 157 (12,929 stitches) - 14 ct Aida: 20.0 x 28.5 cm / 7.86 x 11.21 in - 16 ct Aida: 17.5 x 24.9 cm / 6.88 x 9.81 in - 18 ct Aida: 15.5 x 22.2 cm / 6.11 x 8.72 in - 28 ct evenweave: 20.0 x 28.5 cm / 7.86 x 11.21 in - 14 DMC colours, 3 strands - Full cross stitches only - no backstitch, no fractional stitches, no French knots - Design size only; please add extra fabric for framing or finishing
🛒 WHAT YOU GET Your instant download includes: - full-color symbol chart with the notes and color checklist pages to track your progress as you go - printer-friendly black & white symbol chart - DMC floss color list - realistic stitched preview - beginner's guide - editable OXS file compatible with Pattern Keeper, MacStitch and WinStitch. Nothing is shipped, just download, print, and start stitching today.
❤️A LARGE PIECE THAT IS STILL GENUINELY EASY This is one of the bigger charts in the shop - a proper wall piece rather than a weekend make. It is also one of the simplest to work: every stitch is a full cross, there is no backstitch anywhere, and the colours sit in large readable blocks rather than single scattered stitches. If you can count and follow a symbol chart, you can stitch this.
🪢 CHOOSING YOUR FABRIC - PLEASE READ The background of this design is not stitched. The fabric itself is the grey ground behind the cat, exactly as it is in the painting, so its colour is part of the artwork rather than something behind it.
- Recommended: a mid-tone slate or dusty blue-grey Aida. This is what is shown in the photos and what the design was drawn for. Lean to the greyer end rather than a true blue: the turban is worked in DMC 798 Delft Blue Dark and 797 Royal Blue, which sit closest to the fabric in hue, and a grey-leaning ground keeps the headscarf reading as a separate shape. - Please avoid white, cream and ivory. The pearl and the highlights along the yellow drape are worked in DMC 3823 Yellow Ultra Pale, 677 Old Gold Very Light and 613 Drab Brown Very Light, and they lose their definition against a pale ground - the pearl in particular stops reading as a pearl. - Please avoid black, charcoal and navy. The cat is DMC 310 Black with 3371 Black Brown and 3031 Mocha Brown Very Dark, and the turban is 336 Navy Blue, 797 Royal Blue and 798 Delft Blue Dark. On a dark fabric the cat and the turban both sink into the background.
Johannes Vermeer painted Girl with a Pearl Earring around 1665; it hangs in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. This chart is an original parody of that Baroque portrait, not a reproduction of it.
How to download
Nothing ships. Your files are ready as soon as payment clears. On a computer: go to You, then Purchases and reviews, then hit Download next to this order. In the Etsy app: go to You, then Purchases, open the order and tap Download. Etsy also sends you a download link by email. You can re-download from that same page any time, so nothing gets lost.
Personal use
This pattern is for personal use. You can stitch it for yourself and stitch it as a gift. Please do not resell, share, copy or redistribute the files, sell the chart as your own, or use it for mass production. The design and the chart stay the property of Stitch Jam Studio.
Good to know
You are buying a PDF chart, not a finished piece and not a kit. No fabric, floss or hoop is included. Colors on a screen can look different from real DMC floss. The preview shows how the finished piece could look. Your result depends on fabric count and floss. Files are in English. You need a PDF reader to open the charts. Free ones work fine.
Returns
Because this is an instant download, all sales are final. No refunds, returns or exchanges once the files are available. If a file will not open, the download stops halfway, or you got the wrong item, message me and I will fix it.