Beginners guide to cross stitch

Hi there all you craftie minds!

The simplest and most effective embroidery style is counted cross stitch and the fact that you want to give it a go is wonderful! I have spent years myself creating these masterpieces as gifts for special occasions and have always received a pleasant appreciation for them. You can pick your own colours, style, personality and have a really unique piece of artwork to gift or hang on your wall. I spend a few hours each night working on any current projects and it really gives me the time to relax and resolve any problems going on in normal life.

How long will it take me to complete a cross stitch?

I am the sort who likes to dive right into the large expansive stitches however with personality and unique design, a small stitch can sometimes create as much effect as a large one. For a complete beginner, I suggest taking on a stitch no bigger than 10cm either way. Once you have realized the achievement on completion a larger scaled design seems much more realistic. A 10cm stitch on 14count aida cloth will take about 15-20 hours to complete depending on how much detail may be involved.

What materials do I need to start?

• A pattern
• 14 ct Aida cloth
• Embroidery thread
• Embroidery needle
• Embroidery hoop
• Frame to finish
• A pair of scissors

A pattern is obviously needed for cross stitch, make sure it is well designed and formatted, and stick to it. You can pick up patterns relatively cheaply from online, instore or buy personalized ones from "The Stitch Witch".

A good base to start is with 14ct Aida cloth. This is easy to work with, the holes are easily defined and a pattern made on this is particularly effective. You are looking at between $10-$15 to pick a small amount of Aida cloth up, otherwise kits are a good place to go. You can also pick these up in a range of colours.

Embroidery thread can be found in places like Lincraft, Spotlight or your local craft store. There are many colours and sometimes it is hard to find the number you may be looking for but just remember if you do replace a colour make sure you do it for ALL of that colour throughout the whole pattern.

Embroidery needles are blunt, which is great for not stabbing your fingers everytime you pull a thread through. You can't use sewing needles, unless you want to increase your pain tolerance so go out and purchase these inexpensive things.

Embroidery hoops aren't essential but make for a better end result and less screw ups along the way. It is like a constant iron for your stitch area. I like using them unless I am working with a really small area and then they just get in the way. However they are recommended and affordable.

Don't purchase a frame until your work is complete unless you are absolutely sure of its final finish. There is nothing worse than changing a colour and the frame clashing or if the frame is to small.

These are all the items a good embroiderer has on hand  and if you buy a cross stitch kit from us, all of the above is included (minus the scissors).

I just want to begin already!

Wash your hands! Aida cloth catches dirt so easy it just isn't worth risking it so just remember to was your hands before starting to work with your stitch

Right so you have gathered all your materials together. Now time for counting, get to your pattern and find the absolute center of your image. Mark it if you like. This is your starting point. The next step is to find the absolute center of your cross stitch material so count and make sure there are enough squares relative to your pattern and mark the center again. Place that center into your embroidery hoop by putting the small circle at the back and the big circle at the front by loosening the bolt on it then retightening once it is spread evenly and tighten until the material has a springy effect,

Now find the first colour of embroidery thread you must use for that middle square and cut of a length (generally around 15 inches is suitable) to use. Now split the thread so you just have two strands (The other half always holds the other 4 so there are no knots formed) and thread those two strands through the eye of your embroidery needle. Now imagine that square in the center on the pattern as a square in the center on your Aida cloth, start by threading from the bottom left hole of that square from back to front to the top right hand hole of that square and threading it to the back as you pull the thread through hold your fingers on the end of the thread at the back so it doesn't pull right through. Now check the pattern to make sure that the square on the right of that center square is full of the same colour and if it is pull the thread through on the bottom left corner hole of the square on the right and again to the top right hand corner of that square. Continue making these slashes until that colour finishes then put the thread from bottom to top from the bottom right of the end square to the top left of that square to create a cross effect. Continue until you have a row of crosses. Congratulations you just completed your first row of crosses in cross stitch and as you were coming back up that row hopefully your end piece of embroidery thread got tied in at the back.

The easiest way to work is downwards, row by row, just make sure you count the pattern clearly and carefully.

Once you have completed all the crosses in the pattern you may have to outline your pattern with a back stitch. They are all the lines around your detail in your stitch. You need 3 strands of embroidery thread for these and just follow the pattern line by line. So if the first line is diagonal downwards, thread the top one first from back to front then the bottom one from front to back then the next line straight down you pull the thread through from the line below from back to front then line back in up one square from front to back. Congratulations you just mastered backstitch. DO NOT TRY TO CHEAT and do more than square worth at a time, the effect on decoration will not be pretty.

Well I'm Finished!

Congratulations! You have completed the hardest part of Cross stitch. Now there are a few things to do before hanging your stripy Dr Seuss quote on your wall,

How to wash your Cross-stitch
How to frame your Cross-stitch

Well thankyou for sitting through our first embroidery blog Know-how, please head over to our facebook page and take a look and some of the wonderful things embroidery has to offer. Follow our blog for free patterns, more tips and tricks and embroidery at its finest :) Hopefully some photos will be added to the blog soon otherwise good luck fans and followers!!!!