How to Cross Stitch: 6 Step Beginner Tutorial

You need three things to start: embroidery floss (DMC is the standard - one skein gives you plenty for a small project), a size 26 tapestry needle (blunt tip with a big eye that won't snag the aida threads), and aida cloth.

Aida cloth is woven specifically for cross stitch - the holes are evenly spaced so each X fits cleanly into one square. 11-count means 11 squares per inch and is the easiest size for learning. 14-count and 18-count get progressively smaller and finer.

Bring the threaded needle up through the bottom-left corner of one aida square. Pull all the slack through, leaving a short tail on the back to catch with future stitches.

Take the needle down through the top-right corner of the same square. You've made the first half of a cross - a single diagonal slash going from lower-left to upper-right. This is also called a half-stitch.

Bring the needle back up through the bottom-right corner of the same square, then take it down through the top-left corner. The two diagonal slashes now cross to form an X.

This is the English method - finish each X completely before moving to the next square. It's the easiest way to learn because you can see the cross take shape in real time, and there's no chance of losing track of which slashes are crossed and which aren't.

Move to the next aida square and repeat the same four-corner sequence. Bottom-left up, top-right down, bottom-right up, top-left down. Each X covers exactly one square.

Keep tension consistent across every stitch. Pulling too tight makes the fabric pucker around your stitches; leaving them loose makes the X look sloppy. Aim for the floss to lay flat against the aida without tugging the surface.

The Danish method is faster and gives a tidier back. Stitch all the bottom-left to top-right slashes across the entire row first, then come back the other direction stitching the bottom-right to top-left slashes that complete each X.

The diagonal stitches on the back end up parallel instead of zigzagging, which uses less thread and looks neater. Most experienced cross stitchers prefer Danish for solid blocks of color and switch to English only when filling in single isolated stitches.

For longer projects, mount the aida in an embroidery hoop or scroll frame. The fabric stays taut and your stitches stay even from the first hour to the fifth.

With the fabric stabilized, you can use both hands - top hand pushes the needle through the front, bottom hand pulls it down and pushes it back up. Two-handed stitching is roughly twice as fast as the one-handed method and your tension naturally evens out because you're never wrestling the fabric.