Beginner’s guide
How to...
All the guidance you need for cross stitch success!
With technical editor,
Fiona Baker
Fabrics
You’ll need either aida or evenweave for your design:
Aida
Great for: Beginners, as it has regular woven blocks and
obvious holes. Aida is stiffer than evenweave so keeps
its shape better. 14-count is the most common.
Bad for: Fractional stitches. If you stitch a design with
fractional stitches on aida, you’ll have to make an extra
hole in the fabric, using a sharp needle.
Evenweave
Great for: Fractional stitches and a neat finish. This fabric
is softer than aida, with a finer weave and more threads
per inch – 28-count is the most common. On evenweave,
you work a cross stitch over two threads of the fabric, so
you have a central hole spare for your fractional stitches.
Bad for: Beginners. It’s best to start on aida and work up
to evenweave when you’re confident.
Quick-start
cross stitch
Choose your project...
Make sure you choose the right level for you – you’ll find this
information in the Factbox on each of our projects. Absolute
beginners should choose a design without fractional stitches.
Buy your materials...
The You Will Need list on each project will tell you what size
and type of fabric you need, and also which needle to use
(see the table below for more information on needle sizes).
You’ll find details of the threads you need in the key.
Get ready...
We recommend always starting from the middle of the
design. Follow the two heavy ’P’ gridlines on the chart and
find a symbol near the centre. Look for this symbol on the key
for the colour of thread you need, plus the number of strands.
Thread your needle with this colour.
Get set...
Fold your fabric in half horizontally and vertically to find
the centre of that as well. The folds will make a cross, which
corresponds to the cross at the centre of your chart.
Get stitching!
Make your first stitch. Leave a thread tail of 4cm (2in) on the
back of the fabric, and catch it under your stitches to secure
it. We recommend finishing all the cross stitch in your design
before you work the backstitch or add any French knots. Have
a look at the diagrams opposite to see how to tackle all of
these stitches.
Needles
Tapestry needles are blunt-ended
so that they can pass easily
between the threads of the aida
and evenweave. They come in
various thicknesses, which are
suitable for certain fabrics. Refer
to the chart on the right to work
out which needle to choose.
When stitching fractionals on
aida (see far right), a sharp-ended
embroidery needle can be used
to split the fabric blocks.
With just a few essentials, you’ll be
all set to stitch straightaway...
Yo u r m a t e r i a l s
6-count
8-count
11-count
14-count
16-count
18-count
22, 25 & 27-count
28-count
32-count*
36 & 55-count
Tapestry needle Aida Evenweave
22 26 *Also includes 22-count Hardanger
Threads
Stranded cotton
This coloured thread comes in 8m skeins
and can be divided into six strands.
Usually, you use two strands together for
cross stitch, and one strand on its own for
backstitch. There are three main brands
of stranded cotton – DMC, Anchor and
Madeira – all of which are smooth and easy
to stitch with, and also colourfast to 95°C.
Cheaper brands are available, but these will
be less durable and may not be colourfast.
Aida (left) is stiffer than
evenweave (below), and
has more obvious holes