How to Cross Stitch on Linen

For all that I’ve been writing about cross stitch for years, I am not very adventurous when it comes to projects or new techniques. I have never, for example, stitched on linen, because regular Aida fabric feels so much easier.

It’s not that cross stitching on linen is actually difficult, but there is a learning curve involved. The first thing to know is that you generally work over two threads instead of the single block in Aida because linen has a higher thread count. That being the case it’s not as easy to see where your stitch should go compared to the simple boxes on Aida fabric.

You also need to choose linen fabric with a count double to what you would use with Aida. So if you would normally use 16 count fabric you’d use 32 count linen, for example.

Why would you want to choose linen for a cross stitch project? Linen has a lovely natural look (because it is a natural fiber, made from flax) and because it has fewer holes it has a smoother overall appearance than regular cross stitch fabric. It’s great to give a sort of old fashioned, instant heirloom look to your projects.

Because of the way you work stitches on linen over two threads, it’s easier to make fractional stitches when working on linen, so if you have a really detailed project that uses lots of partial stitches, choosing to work it on linen might make it a bit easier.

Since I am not the expert on any of this I’ll direct you to a great blog post all about cross stitching on linen from Crewel Ghoul. The post includes lots of good tips that will make it a little easier for you to work with linen should you want to do so on a future project.

Have you ever worked a cross stitch pattern on linen fabric? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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Project bags are not a necessity when it comes to cross stitch, or any other craft. But if you’re traveling with your cross stitch, or you want to keep things clean/organized/away from kids or pets, using project bags is a great idea.

Of course any kind of bag can be a project bag, from a zip top bag to a reusable shopping bag. I like to use the plastic zipper bags that sheets come in as project bags, especially for longer term storage of projects in hibernation because it keeps them clean and dust free but also allows me to see what’s in there.

Sirious Stitches has a very comprehensive post covering various options that they and other people in their community use for project bags and storage.

Probably the best thing about it is as it goes through the different kinds of bags there are links to tutorials if you want to make your own (because we’re mostly all multi-crafters, right?) and also places that you can buy bags if you’d rather go that route. You’ll find projects for a clear vinyl pencil pouch perfect for storing bobbined thread, large square pouches, vinyl square pouches, flat bottom pouches with zippers, folio cases with large pockets, bobbin pockets and multi-fold cases.

The point of all that research was that Siri wanted a new project bag, so you can click through to see not only all of these project options but what they ultimately made and how it’s working. It’s a really lovely project bag that makes me a little jealous on behalf of my projects that mostly just sit on my desk (or in a plastic shopping bag, ugh) while I’m working on them.

Do you have a favorite project bag? I’d love to hear about it. And be sure to check out the post at Sirious Stitches.

[Photo: Sirious Stiches]

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