Everything You Need to Know about Cross Stitch Fabrics

I have been writing about cross stitch here for a long time, and I’m done cross stitch now and then throughout my life, but I’m by no means an expert. So it’s great for me to have this gig where I get to learn new to me things about the craft and share them with you so we can all be a little smarter about the basics and beyond.

One big thing in cross stitch that I never learned much about is the fabric. I’ve pretty much used 14 count Aida for everything, and it works well for lots of different projects, but of course there are other options.

The Crewel Ghoul has a great post on their website all about what you need to know about different kinds of cross stitch fabrics. It talks about the major differences among kinds of fabric: weave, fiber and thread count. It looks at the differences between Aida, evenweave and linen, how to count threads and why you might want to choose different kinds of fabric for your project.

I’m sure I’ll still stick to Aida for most projects because it’s easy to work with, widely available, comes in a lot of different colors and is generally not too expensive. But it’s nice to know about the other options that are out there, and I’d love to feel skilled enough to work with linen some day because I love the classic look.

You can read all about the different kinds of cross stitch fabric, their qualities and where to buy them at the Crewel Ghoul website.

What about you? Do you use Aida all the time like I do, or do you change it up for different projects? If you have a favorite place to buy cross stitch fabric, I’d love to hear about that, too!

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

Natalka Studio is an Etsy shop based in Ukraine with a wide variety of cross stitch designs, including realistic, detailed designs with women doing various things, holiday patterns, geometrics and more.

One of the biggest categories in the shop is called girl cross stitch, which features detailed designs of women with flowing hair doing things like drinking coffee, dancing and carrying flowers. There are seasonal projects in this category as well as a couple having to do with hobbies.

I like the knitting one, of course, and almost shared the sewing one as the featured pattern above until I realized the thread is coming off a cone on the floor and there’s no pedal for running the machine.

The one I am sharing here isn’t actually in that category but it is really cute. Little Girl with Watermelon uses 21 colors and measures 73 by 73 stitches. That’s 5.21 inches or 13.3 cm square if you work it on 14 count fabric. I love her messy hair and the little dress and matching bows. You could also change the colors if you have a little girl who isn’t as into pink (or doesn’t have brown hair).

The largest category on the page is animals, and there you will find wild animals like monkeys, pandas and sloths; ocean creatures such as rays, an octopus and a blue tang fish; frogs, dogs and geese, among others.

There are also a lot of Christmas cross stitch patterns, which include a lot of traditional motifs and some more whimsical themes. I like this one of Santa resting by the fire with his boots off.

In addition to all these you’ll find pretty flowers, a bunch of mostly floral bookmarks, a whole big set of patterns with lemons, and a lot more. The fruits and berries section (if you like fruits other than lemons) would be perfect for decorating your kitchen or breakfast area.

Check out all the great patterns they have to offer at Natalka Studio on Etsy.

[Photo: Natalka Studio]

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