HOW TO CROSS STITCH

Supplies list

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Never stitched before?  Here's a list of things you'll need:

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• Cloth: the fancy cross-stitch cloth called 'Aida' is your best bet as it has nice big holes, evenly spaced for perfect little crosses.  There are different sizes, called 'counts' - the bigger the number, the more squares per inch, the smaller the gap between holes, and the more fiddly it is to work with. For most of my patterns I recommend 14ct, but children might find 11ct easier to work with.  It also comes in a load of funky colours, if plain white isn't your bag.  It looks like this, check out those holes:

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• Needle: you don't want a sharp pointy one!  Tapestry / cross stitch needles have nice blunt ends.  For 14 ct aida you'll want a size 24, for 11ct a size 22, although it doesn't make much of a difference

• Thread: you can, of course, use any thread you like, but embroidery thread (or 'floss') is best suited for this sort of project.  There are many brands to choose from; the colour codes I use in my patterns are from the brand 'DMC', but you don't have to stick with them.  It usually comes in little skeins like this:

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Each of those threads is made up of 6 strands.  You usually only use 1, 2, or 3 of those strands to actually stitch with; your pattern will tell you how many.

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• Optional SUPPLIES

1. Scissors. You'll also need something to cut with (you can get embroidery scissors if you're feeling fancy), but any scissors will do.

 

2. A hoop. Something you don't need, but might find useful, is an embroidery hoop to help hold your fabric taut while you work.  They look like this:

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