365 Cross Stitch Designs - UK (2020-02)

Beginners’ 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 W grid-lines 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 left 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

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

18 20 22 24 26 28 *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