Guide

How to Cross Stitch: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Cross stitch is one of the easiest needlecrafts to pick up. If you can count to ten and thread a needle, you can make a finished piece you'll be proud of. This guide walks you through everything, from the first supplies to hanging your work on the wall.

What cross stitch actually is

Cross stitch is a kind of counted embroidery. You work on a fabric woven in a neat grid, and you fill in tiny X shapes, one per square, following a chart. Each square on the chart matches one X on your fabric. Put enough of those little X's together and a picture appears, a bit like pixels on a screen.

Because everything happens on a grid, you don't need any drawing skill. The chart does the design work. Your job is to count carefully and keep your stitches tidy.

The supplies you need

You can start with a very short list. Our beginner supplies guide goes into more detail, but here are the essentials:

• Aida cloth. A stiff cotton fabric with clearly visible holes. 14-count (14 squares per inch) is the usual starting point. See our Aida count guide if you're unsure which to buy.
• Stranded cotton floss. Embroidery thread made of six thin strands you can separate. DMC is the most common brand in the US. Our DMC thread guide explains how it works.
• A tapestry needle. These have a blunt tip and a large eye. Size 24 suits 14-count Aida.
• A hoop. A 6-inch or 7-inch embroidery hoop keeps the fabric taut. Some people stitch without one on stiff Aida, and that's fine too.
• Small, sharp scissors. Embroidery scissors make it easy to snip close to the fabric.
• A chart (pattern). Buy one, use a kit, or make your own from a photo with our free pattern maker.

A small kit is a sensible first step, since it bundles fabric, sorted thread, a needle and a chart.

Preparing your fabric

Cut your fabric so there are about 3 inches of spare fabric on every side of the design. That margin gives you room for the hoop now and for framing later. Our size planning guide shows how to work it out.

Aida edges can fray as you handle them. You can stop that by running a line of masking tape along the edges, oversewing them by hand, or zigzagging them on a sewing machine.

Most people start stitching in the middle of the design, so it's centered on the fabric. To find the middle, fold the fabric in half one way, then in half the other way. The point where the folds cross is your center. You can mark it lightly with a pin or a single stitch in a contrasting thread that you'll remove later.

Reading the chart in a nutshell

A cross stitch chart is a grid. Each square with a symbol or color means "make one cross stitch here, in this color." The key (or legend) tells you which thread number goes with each symbol. Bold lines every 10 squares make counting easier, and small arrows on the edges point to the center of the design.

That's enough to get going. When you want the full picture, including backstitch and fractional stitches, read how to read a cross stitch pattern.

Preparing your thread

Cut a length of floss about 18 inches long. Longer pieces tend to tangle and wear thin as they're pulled through the fabric again and again.

Next, separate the strands. Hold the cut end, pinch one strand, and pull it straight up and out while the rest bunch up below. Take out the number you need one at a time, then lay them back together. On 14-count Aida, two strands is the usual choice for full stitches. Separating and recombining strands this way helps them lie flatter and cover better.

Starting without a knot

Knots on the back of cross stitch can make lumps that show when you frame the piece, and they can pull through the soft holes of Aida. Instead, stitchers use one of these methods.

The loop start (for an even number of strands)

1. Take a single strand that's twice your normal length (around 36 inches).
2. Fold it in half and thread both cut ends through the needle. You now have a loop at the far end.
3. Bring the needle up from the back at the start of your first stitch, leaving the loop hanging at the back.
4. Go down into the hole for the first half of the stitch. On the back, pass the needle through the waiting loop and pull gently. The thread is now anchored.

The loop start only works when you're stitching with two (or four) strands, because the folded strand gives you two strands in the needle.

The waste knot (works with any number of strands)

1. Tie a knot at the end of your thread.
2. Push the needle down from the front of the fabric, about an inch away from where you'll begin, in the direction you'll be stitching. The knot sits on top of the fabric.
3. Come up where your first stitch starts and stitch towards the knot. Your stitches cover the thread tail on the back and hold it in place.
4. When you reach the knot, snip it off on the front. The tail is now secured under your stitches.

If you're adding thread in an area that's already stitched, you can simply slide the needle under a few stitches on the back to secure it.

Making a full cross stitch

A full cross is two diagonal stitches over one square of Aida.

1. Come up through the bottom-left hole of the square.
2. Go down through the top-right hole. That's your first half stitch: a /.
3. Come up through the bottom-right hole.
4. Go down through the top-left hole. That makes the \ and completes the X.

The single most useful habit is this: make all your top stitches lie in the same direction. It doesn't matter which way you choose, as long as you stay consistent. That's what gives finished cross stitch its smooth, even look.

Stitching rows

When you have several stitches of the same color side by side, it's often faster to work a row of half stitches (/ / / /) in one direction, then come back along the row to cross them all (X X X X). This is sometimes called the Danish method. Stitching one complete X at a time is called the English method. Both are correct; many stitchers use both depending on the area.

Tension

Pull each stitch snug enough to lie flat, but not so tight that the holes get pulled out of shape. If your thread starts twisting into a cord, let the needle dangle from the fabric for a moment and it will unwind.

Finishing a thread

When you have about 3 inches of thread left, or you've finished an area of color, take the needle to the back. Slide it under four or five stitches on the back, ideally ones of the same or a similar color, then trim the tail close. Avoid carrying dark threads across long gaps behind light-colored areas, because they can show through the fabric. If the next area of the same color is more than a few squares away, it's usually better to end the thread and start again.

A simple order of work

• Start at the center and work outward, so your design stays centered.
• Complete all the full stitches in an area first.
• Add fractional stitches, then backstitch outlines, last of all.
• Mark off finished areas on a copy of your chart with a highlighter. It saves a lot of recounting.

Fixing mistakes

Everyone miscounts sometimes. Unpick a few stitches with the needle; for a larger area, snip them carefully with the tips of your scissors and pick the pieces out with tweezers. Use fresh thread afterwards, as unpicked floss tends to be fuzzy.

Washing, pressing and framing

Once you're done, it's worth giving the piece a gentle hand wash to remove hoop marks and the oils from your hands. Use cool water with a little mild detergent, don't scrub, and roll it in a clean towel to soak up most of the water rather than wringing. While it's still slightly damp, press it face down on a fluffy towel with a warm iron so the stitches stay raised.

From there you can finish it in its hoop, frame it, or turn it into an ornament or pillow. Our framing and finishing guide covers each option step by step.

Your first project

For a first piece, choose something small, around 50 to 80 stitches across, with only a handful of colors and mostly full stitches. You'll finish it in a few evenings and learn the basics without getting overwhelmed. Once you've done one, a bigger project, or one made from your own photo, will feel very doable.