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]

As a knitter, I love a good sheep motif, so let’s take a look at some cute sheep cross stitch patterns.

If you want to stitch a little sheep, this mini square from Good Dog Needleworks is a nice choice. It uses just three colors and measures 32 by 32 stitches. That’s 2.2 inches or about 5.5 cm square if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

I also love these two little sheep, which you can stitch together or in individual hoops and shown. The designs are form Threadbound Art and use six colors. They are slightly different in size, with one being 21 by 17 stitches and the other 21 by 20. They fit in four inch frames if you work them on 14 count fabric.

You can stitch a sweet sheep bookmark with this design from Kits by SA Stitch. This is not for the person who doesn’t like back stitch, because there’s a lot of that here, but it is really cute. It measures 30 by 91 stitches and uses 10 colors. That will make your bookmark about 2.4 by 6.5 inches, or 6 by 16.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Stitch a pretty scene of sheep in a meadow with this design from Motok Nytok. It uses 21 colors and the design is 99 by 73 stitches. On 14 count fabric that makes it about 7.07 by 5.21 inches, or 17.96 by 13.24 cm.

This yarn full of cross stitch sheep has a bit of a knitting twist because the sheep all look like they have sweaters on. The design is from Soda Stitch Design and it measures 179 by 216 stitches. The full design uses 27 colors. On 14 count fabric it will work out to 12.78 by 15.42 inches, or 32.48 by 39.19 cm.

Another great one with a knitting theme is this one where the wool is coming off the sheep and straight onto the needles. This one is from Happy Cross Stitchers and uses 12 colors. The pattern is 137 by 137 stitches, which comes out to 9.7 inches or 24.86 cm square on 14 count fabric. This would be a fun one to stitch for the knitter in your life (even if that is you).

Or you can stitch the field of sheep of a knitter’s dreams with the Happy Sheep chart from Charts and Stuff. These per-colored sheep can be stitched as shown or worked in any colors you like. The eyes are French knots but you can just stitch them in white if you’d rather.

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