Cross-stitch guides

Fifteen guides to a first finished piece, from what to buy to the frame, by way of the chart you can make yourself from a photo. Read them in order if you are new to it, or go straight to the question that is stopping you.

Getting started

What to buy, how a chart is read, and which fabric to choose.

Cross stitch for beginners: where to start · Counted or stamped, what to buy, a first chart and the six steps, in order. 3 min read.
What you need to start cross stitch · The fabric, the thread, the needle, and what can wait. 2 min read.
How to read a cross-stitch chart · Squares, symbols, key and markers: what each sign means. 2 min read.
Choosing your fabric and working out the size · What the count means, the sum in centimetres, and the margins. 2 min read.

Making your chart

Size, photo, colours: everything that makes a good chart before the first stitch.

Choosing the size of a cross-stitch chart · How many stitches for which subject, the finished size, and how many evenings. 3 min read.
Which photo makes a good cross-stitch chart · What survives being turned into stitches, and what is lost. 3 min read.
Preparing a picture before turning it into a chart · Crop, straighten, brighten and calm the background in five minutes. 3 min read.
How to turn a photo into a cross-stitch chart · Width, number of threads, adjustments and download, step by step. 3 min read.
Reducing the number of colours in a chart · Fewer threads, less confetti, nothing that matters lost. 3 min read.
Choosing your DMC colours: building a palette · The gallery, a photo, or one thread and the colours around it. 3 min read.

Stitching

The thread, the first stitches, and the ones that come after.

How many strands, and how to prepare the thread · Strands for each fabric, separating them one at a time, and an eye that stops fighting back. 3 min read.
Starting and finishing a thread without a knot · The loop start, the tail start, and how to end a thread neatly. 3 min read.
How to cross stitch: one at a time or in rows · The movement, the two methods, and the one-direction rule. 3 min read.
Half stitch, three-quarter stitch and backstitch · The partial stitches of shop-bought charts, and outlining in backstitch. 3 min read.

Finishing

Washing, pressing and framing: what turns a piece of stitching into a present.

Washing, pressing and framing your cross stitch · Hand washing, pressing on the back, and three ways to frame. 3 min read.

The words that keep coming up

Cross stitch: Two diagonal stitches crossing inside one square of the fabric. Every stitch is the same size, which is why a chart can be a plain grid.
Chart: The plan of the piece: a grid with one square per stitch, each carrying a colour or a symbol, with a heavier line every ten squares to count by.
Aida: A stiff fabric woven in small blocks, with a visible hole at each corner. One block takes one stitch, which makes it the fabric to start on.
Count (11, 14, 16…): How many stitches fit in an inch (2.54 cm) of fabric. 14-count aida takes 5.5 stitches per centimetre; the higher the count, the smaller the piece.
Stranded cotton and strands: The thread of cross stitch: an 8 m skein of six fine strands, separated before stitching. Two strands is the usual choice on 14-count aida.
Confetti: Single stitches of one colour scattered among another. Each one means starting and ending a thread, so a chart covered in them is slow to stitch.
DMC: The French thread maker whose numbering is the common language of cross stitch. “DMC 310” is the same black in every shop, which is why a chart lists numbers rather than colours.
Hoop: Two wooden or plastic rings that hold the fabric taut while you stitch. Useful, not compulsory on aida, which is stiff enough to hold in the hand.
Backstitch: A line stitch worked over the finished crosses with one strand of a dark thread, to draw an outline, a stem or a word.

See what other people have stitched

The gallery holds two lists. The charts are patterns made here, and any of them can be taken for free with its thread list. The finished pieces are photographs of real work, posted by the people who stitched them, from charts made here and from patterns found anywhere else. A chart somebody has already stitched links to the pieces that came out of it, which is the most honest preview there is.

Browse the charts

Browse finished pieces

Make a chart