Guides / Getting started

Cross stitch for beginners: where to start

Cross stitch is the easiest kind of embroidery to learn: one stitch, placed square by square. Here, in order, is everything a first piece asks of you.

You do not need to draw: you only need to count. One stitch, two diagonals crossed in a square, repeated until the picture appears. Here is the way through a first piece, from fabric to frame.

A craft you count

Each square of the chart becomes a cross on the fabric. The picture is not drawn: it is counted.

One square, one cross; one symbol, one thread in the key. The darker line every ten squares is there to count without getting lost.

Every convention is in the guide on how to read a chart.
The chart comes from a book, a shop, or your own photo.

✓ Counted cross stitch: blank fabric and a chart. Any design is yours to stitch.
✗ Stamped cross stitch: the design inked on the cloth, showing through pale threads.

Four things to buy

Fabric, thread, a needle and scissors: the details are in what you need to start.

14-count aida (5.5 stitches per centimetre): its holes do the counting for you.
Stranded cotton, 2 strands out of six. Each colour has a number: see the colour chart.
A size 24 blunt tapestry needle and small scissors.
A skein costs about €1; every thread has its page and its price, like red 321.

€20 or so, for a first design in eight colours

Choosing a first chart

Aim for about fifty stitches wide and fewer than ten colours: see choosing the size of a chart.

The converter at work: the photo becomes a chart, width and colours are set, the threads to buy line up, then the chart is printed.

Flowers forgive everything: a petal a little wide is still a petal.
Keep animals and all their shades for your second piece.
Every chart in the gallery is free, with its thread list.
Or turn your photo into a chart: the converter matches each stitch to a real thread.

9.1 cm for 50 stitches across on 14-count aida: a first frame

Six steps, from fabric to frame

Each step has its own guide. Here they are, in order.

One cross, hole by hole: the cloth turns over each time the needle goes through. Two diagonals on the front, one short straight stitch on the back.

Fold the fabric in four: you stitch out from the centre (reading a chart).
Cut 50 cm of thread and keep 2 of its six strands (preparing the thread).
Start without a knot, with a loop (starting and finishing a thread).
Stitch one colour at a time, the top diagonal always leaning the same way (how to cross stitch).
Add half stitches and the outline last (half stitch and backstitch).
Wash, press face down and frame (finishing a piece), then show it among the community's pieces.

How long it takes

Time follows the area: double the width and you quadruple the evenings.

350 stitches an hour or so, at an easy pace

Motif	For	Stitches	On 14-count	Time
30 × 30 stitches	a card, a bookmark	900	5.4 cm	3 h
50 × 50 stitches	a first frame	2,500	9.1 cm	7 h
80 × 80 stitches	an animal, a bouquet	6,400	14.5 cm	18 h

Tip. A chart with empty space round the subject goes much faster than this: only the motif is stitched.

Beginners' mistakes

Six strands: the crosses spill over and the thread tangles.
A knot on the back makes a bump under the frame, and can give way.
Over 50 cm of thread wears and twists: rethread more often.
Thirty-five colours and stray stitches? Reduce the colours before you start.

✓ 2 strands, a start in the centre, every cross leaning the same way.
✗ Six strands, a start in a corner, knots on the back.

Tip. Miscounted? Unpick with the tip of the needle, or work the design round it. Nobody will spot a petal one square out.