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How to Dye Cross Stitch Fabric

February 14, 2025 by Sarah White

When I was learning to cross stitch as a kid, there were not a lot of options when it came to the color of cross stitch fabric. Other things may have been available, but in that age before the Internet I had access to what was in my local crafts store or the craft section of the big box store (which wasn’t that big back then). So that was pretty much white and ecru, and maybe black or dark blue.

There are a lot more options available these days, even at the big box craft store in town. Add the Internet and you can get an array of colors, patterns and designs like this pretty galaxy fabric or muted mottled prints.

But sometimes you might want a particular color of cross stitch fabric that isn’t available, or that is expensive or you want to use something you already have in your stash. In those cases you might want to dye your own cross stitch fabric.

It makes sense that this wouldn’t be any more difficult or really a different process at all than dyeing other fabric, but sometimes it’s helpful to see someone else do it before you try it just to reassure yourself that you know what you’re doing.

In that case I direct you to this helpful tutorial from Stitching Corner, in which they turned plain cross stitch fabric into tye-dyed fabric using commercially available dyes.

The main thing to note before trying this at home is that the fabric you have is compatible with the dye you have (so if your fabric is cotton use a dye that works on cotton, for example).

Check the post for the step by step details of how to dye cross stitch fabric with a single color or a couple at once. Would you or have you tried this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo: Stitching Corner]

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Quick Tip: How to Keep Cross Stitch Fabric from Fraying

One of the most common problems that cross stitchers at all skill levels have is that the cross stitch fabric can start fraying while you stitch.

Beginner cross stitchers might wonder why this happens and if there is something they are doing wrong to cause it.

The reason cross stitch fabric frays is because it is a woven fabric, and the nature of any kind of woven fabric (whether that’s cross stitch fabric, a torn up towel or a piece of fabric you’re going to sew) is that it wants to fray.

It’s not necessarily a huge deal if you cross stitch fabric starts fraying mid-project if you have left a lot of extra fabric around your stitching. But if there’s not much fabric to spare in order to be able to finish the project the way you want, you’ll want to do something to stop the fraying.

When I was growing up I remember my mom using masking tape for this purpose, but it turns out there are lots of different things that you can do to stop your cross stitch fabric from fraying.

Craft with Cartwright came up with 15 different things that you can try, which seems like a lot, but that just means you have lots of different things you can try.

If you don’t want to buy something, you can stitch along the edges. If you already have supplies like tape or glue, or access to pinking shears or a serger, there are lots of options you can try.

Some of these are more permanent than others, so it will depend a little bit on how you want to finish your cross stitch project as to which is the best choice for you. It’s a great idea to read through the whole list just so you can have them in the back of yoru mind the next time you start a project and think about how you would like to protect it.

You can find the whole list at Craft with Cartwright.

How do you like to stop fraying on your cross stitch projects? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo: Craft with Cartwright]

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