Cross stitch guide
How much floss for cross stitch
As an estimate, one skein of six-strand floss works between 1,800 and 2,000 full crosses on 14 count Aida with two strands. So a color with fewer stitches than that needs one skein.
On this page 7 parts
What a skein holds
A skein of stranded cotton holds 8 meters (8.7 yards) of six-strand thread. You stitch with only some of the strands, so the skein goes further than its length suggests:
- with two strands, a skein gives 24 meters (26 yards) of working thread;
- with three strands, 16 meters (17.5 yards);
- with one strand, 48 meters (52.5 yards).
Where the thread goes
Look at one cross (A). Its two legs lie on the front, each running corner to corner. Between them the thread travels behind the cloth, straight down the side of the square (B), and it travels behind again to reach the next stitch. Seen edge on (C), the thread winds round the cloth: over, under, over.
Add those up and one cross takes about five times the width of one stitch in thread. The legs alone come to 2.8 widths. The runs behind add 2 widths when you work in rows and a little more when you finish each cross before the next. The thickness of the cloth adds the rest.
Stitches from one skein, an estimate
| Fabric | Strands | Thread for 100 stitches, an estimate | Stitches from one skein, an estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 count Aida | 3 | 50 in (127 cm) | 1,050 |
| 14 count Aida, or 28 count over two | 2 | 39 in (100 cm) | 2,000 |
| 14 count Aida, or 28 count over two | 3 | 39 in (100 cm) | 1,350 |
| 16 count Aida, or 32 count over two | 2 | 34 in (87 cm) | 2,300 |
| 18 count Aida, or 36 count over two | 2 | 31 in (78 cm) | 2,600 |
| 18 count Aida, or 36 count over two | 1 | 31 in (78 cm) | 5,150 |
The method behind the estimate
Every figure in the table is an estimate worked out the same way, for full crosses only:
- One cross is taken to use 5.5 times the width of a stitch. On 14 count a stitch is one fourteenth of an inch (1.8 mm) wide, so a cross takes 0.39 inch (1 cm) of the thread in your needle.
- A skein is taken as 8 meters (8.7 yards) of six strands, divided by the strands you use.
- A fifth is added for the thread you cannot stitch with: the tails at each start and end, and the last short piece left in the needle.
Published figures differ, which is why this is an estimate and not a promise. A thread maker that measured cross stitch on 14 count and 18 count Aida found between 5.3 and 5.6 stitch widths for each cross. The bare geometry of the stitch gives 4.8 to 5.2. A long-standing needlework FAQ allows 6 widths, and sets aside 3 inches (7.5 cm) of every 18 inch (46 cm) length for starts, ends and waste. Its chart, also an estimate, comes to about 1,800 stitches from a skein on 14 count with two strands, about a tenth fewer than the table above, and the gap is the same on the other counts. For the allowance, the thread maker says to add 10 to 20 percent, and a needlework tutorial says to add a quarter to half a skein to the total.
So read each figure in the table as the upper end of the estimate. If a color comes close to the line between one skein and two, buy two.
What changes the amount
- The count. Smaller stitches use less thread each. As an estimate, 100 crosses take 39 inches (100 cm) on 14 count and 31 inches (78 cm) on 18 count.
- The strands. Three strands use up a skein half as fast again as two.
- Starts and ends. Every time you begin or finish a thread, a tail is spent. A color scattered in ones and twos across the design uses more thread than the same number of stitches in one block.
- Carrying. Thread carried across the back from one patch to another is thread that makes no stitches.
- Your hand. Stitchers pull to different tensions and leave different tails. Two people rarely use quite the same amount.
Work it out for your design
- Find the number of stitches in each color. The thread key of every cross stitch pattern on this site gives it, color by color.
- Divide by the figure in the table for your fabric and strands.
- Round up to whole skeins.
For example, a color with 2,500 stitches on 14 count in two strands comes to 1.25 skeins by this estimate, so buy two. A color with 1,900 stitches comes to just under one skein by the same estimate, which is close enough to the line to buy two. A color with 300 stitches needs only a small part of one skein, by the same estimate.
Buy all the skeins of one color at the same time. Thread is dyed in batches, and a skein bought later can be a slightly different shade.
To check the estimate against your own hand, cut one 18 inch (46 cm) length, stitch until it runs out, and count the crosses you made. Multiply by the number of such lengths in a skein: 17, times six, divided by the strands you used.
Where to go next
The thread shopping list takes the colors a pattern needs and takes away the ones you already own. How many strands tells you which row of the table is yours, and the fabric calculator, opened on a design of 100 by 100 stitches on 14 count, gives the cloth to cut. When the piece is done, see what to do with leftover floss.