Can you embroider on Aida cloth?

What happens when you embroider on Aida

Aida is woven in small blocks with a hole at each corner. The blunt needle of cross stitch slips into those holes, and every stitch runs from one hole to another. That is what makes counting easy.

Surface embroidery works the other way. The design is drawn on the cloth, and a sharp needle goes down wherever the line is. On Aida two things get in the way:

• The holes decide where a stitch can end. A curve stitched from hole to hole comes out as straight pieces with corners (A in the picture). To put the needle anywhere else you have to pierce a block with a sharp needle, and it is hard to hit the exact spot.
• The grid shows. Aida is meant to be seen between and round the stitches. Round a flowing design, the rows of blocks and holes stay visible.

So it can be done, and some makers do it. Guides to hand embroidery advise plain cloth for drawn designs.

When Aida suits

Use Aida when the stitches are counted from a chart and their size and place come from the weave:

• cross stitch and backstitch
• blackwork and other counted-thread patterns
• geometric designs and lettering built from squares

Aida is also stiff, so small pieces can be worked in the hand without a hoop. The guide to Aida cloth covers its counts.

When plain cloth is better

Choose plain, closely woven cotton or linen when the design is a drawing: flowers with curved stems, script lettering, outlines and filled shapes that run in any direction. The needle can go down anywhere, so the stitches follow the line (B in the picture).

The hand embroidery section starts here, and embroidery and cross stitch compared sets the two side by side. How to start hand embroidery lists the cloth, hoop and needle for a first piece.

If Aida is what you have

• Pick the finest count you have. Closely woven cloth takes surface stitches better.
• Use a sharp embroidery needle when a stitch has to go through a block.
• Choose a design of straight lines and angles, which the grid suits.

What about needlepoint on Aida?

Needlepoint is counted too, but its ground is a stiff, open canvas, and the stitches are chosen to cover that canvas completely. Aida is cloth that is meant to show. A needlepoint chart is still one square to one stitch, the same as a cross stitch chart. The needlepoint section and its guide to needlepoint and cross stitch explain the difference.

Where to go next

For cloth with a grid that is finer and less blocky than Aida, see other cross stitch fabrics.