Cross stitch guide
Cross stitch for beginners
Start with a small design in full crosses, a piece of 14 count Aida, a blunt needle and two strands of floss. Then learn six things, in the order below.
What cross stitch asks of you
Cross stitch is counting. A chart is a grid of symbols. Each symbol is one X on the cloth, and each kind of symbol is one color of thread. You count squares on the chart, count the same squares on the cloth, and make an X there. Nothing is printed on the cloth, and you never have to draw.
Three things get you started: cloth (1), a needle (2) and thread (3). Add a chart to follow and scissors to cut the thread. A hoop holds the cloth flat and many stitchers like one, but others never use one.
A good first project
- Cloth: 14 count Aida. Aida is woven in small blocks with a clear hole at each corner, so you can see where the needle goes. The count is the number of blocks, and so of stitches, to the inch. 11 count has bigger squares and is easier still to see.
- Needle: a blunt tapestry needle, usually a size 24 or 26. Its blunt point finds the hole and slides through without piercing the cloth.
- Thread: six-strand cotton floss. On 14 count you pull two strands away from the six and stitch with those.
- A design in full crosses. Every cross stitch pattern on this site is charted in full crosses only. The Easy patterns are the ones in four colors or fewer and 1,000 stitches or fewer. The Small patterns are 700 stitches or fewer. Choose one you want to see finished: that is what carries a first piece through.
Before you cut the cloth, work out how big the design will be. Stitches divided by the count gives inches: a design 56 stitches wide is 4 inches (10.2 cm) wide on 14 count. Then leave a margin all round for finishing. The fabric calculator, opened on a design of 56 by 56 stitches, gives the size to cut.
What to learn, in order
- Make the stitch. Work a row of half stitches, then come back along the row to cross them, with every top leg leaning the same way. How to cross stitch teaches it from the first X.
- Find where to begin. Most stitchers start near the middle of the design. Fold the cloth in half both ways to find its center, find the center of the chart, and count from there. How to start a cross stitch shows how.
- Begin and end a thread without a knot. Cut a length of 15 to 18 inches (38 to 46 cm). A knot shows through from the back, so the end is held under the stitches instead. How to start and end a thread has every way of doing it.
- Read the chart. The key says which symbol is which thread, and marks on the edges show the center. How to read a cross stitch pattern goes through a whole chart.
- Add the outlines, if your chart has any. They are worked last, over the finished crosses. Backstitch is the stitch for it.
- Finish the piece. When the last stitch is in, the piece is washed if it needs it, pressed, and framed or made into something. Finishing a cross stitch covers what comes after the stitching.
Then start
Pick a pattern from the Easy patterns, print its chart, and make the first X.