365 Cross Stitch Designs - UK (2020-02)

Afghan A woollen blanket or rug with areas
for cross stitching.
Aida band A narrow strip of aida finished
with a decorative edge and available in
various widths.
Aperture The hole through which a design
is shown in cards and frames.
Beading needle A long, fine needle that
slides easily through beads.
Design area The measurement of the
finished design, depending on the count of
fabric used.
Fabric count The number of holes per inch

on your fabric. The higher the number, the

finer the fabric.

Fabric size The size of fabric you need for

a design, including framing.

Floss USA term for stranded cotton.

Fractional stitches Shaped stitches

made from a quarter or three-quarters of

a cross stitch.

Half stitch The first arm of the cross

stitch. Used to give a less dense stitch to

lighter areas.

Hoop A plastic or wooden circular frame

that holds your fabric taut.

Jobelan A specific make of evenweave fabric.

Linen Traditional fabric, similar to

evenweave but with irregular fibres.

Longstitch Long backstitches that cross

larger areas of the fabric.

Metallic threads Similar to stranded

cotton, but with a shiny metallic finish that

adds sparkle.

Perforated paper Toughened paper with

tiny holes for stitching.

Petit point Tiny stitches, one quarter the

size of a cross stitch, for detailed areas of

stitching. Petit Point is the same as a quarter

stitch in fractional stitches.

Plastic canvas A plastic alternative to

fabric that won’t fray when cut.

Rayon threads Silky threads that add a

subtle satin sheen.

Sampler Traditional stitching with a variety

of different stitches.

Skein An 8m length of stranded cotton,

divisible into six strands.

Stitch count The number of stitches

(both vertical and horizontal) that make

up a design.

Stitching over two Term used to describe

stitching over two threads on evenweave.

Variegated thread Similar to stranded

cotton, but the colour changes along the

length of the thread for a shaded effect.

Wadding Padding used to add depth to

stitching when it is mounted in cards or

on boxes.

Waste canvas Loosely woven fabric, held

together with soluble glue. Often used to add

designs to clothes and softer fabrics.

Whole stitch A complete cross stitch, as

opposed to a half cross stitch, quarter or

three-quarter stitch (fractionals).

How to read our keys

Large symbols and clear information

make our keys easy to use...

A to Z of cross stitch Know what’s what with our handy dictionary

Fractional

stitches

Fractionals allow you to

create round edges

Quarter

The chart shows which corner the

fractional stitch occupies. Bring the

needle up in that corner and take it down in the

centre of the square, halfway across the diagonal

(diagram 1, below).

W

Three-quarters

Following on from the quarter

stitch, make a half stitch across the

other diagonal of the square, from corner to

corner (diagram 2, above). Take care because

three-quarter stitches can face in any direction.

W

Two symbols

When two symbols share a square,

work a fractional in each colour –

a three-quarter stitch in the main colour and

a quarter stitch in the background colour

(diagram 3, below).

W

;

Back-to-back

For a strong outline, work a

three-quarter stitch in each

colour and stitch them back-to-back.

(diagram 4, above). Make sure that the two

half stitches lie neatly parallel to each other.

W

;

You’ll need a sharp needle to pierce

the fabric block when stitching

fractionals on aida

AidaTip

1 2

3 4

How to stitch

with our charts

Our charts make it easy to see the

different stitches in our designs...