Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

How to Grid Cross Stitch Fabric

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I’ve started (just barely, as you can see) a relatively big/complicated cross stitch project (the Baba Yaga house from Happy Little Mouse I told you about a while ago) and I knew that for this project I was going to need a little help keeping track of where I was and what I needed to do next.

Adding grids to your cross stitch fabric is a quick and easy way to help yourself when you’re working on a big project. Your chart will have grids marking off every 10 stitches and every 10 rows, so having those same markings on your fabric can only make it easier for you to follow along.

There are a few main ways to do this, which include marking the grid with thread (either embroidery floss, sewing thread, thread marketed for this purpose, or even fishing line!) or using fabric marking tools to draw the grid. Using a ruler when you do this helps a lot. Mine are still not that straight.

You can also buy cross stitch fabric that’s already marked, which of course makes it a lot easier, but it’s kind of expensive.

When marking your fabric it helps to know where the center of your fabric is, as well as where the center of the chart is relative to the grid marks so you can line them up.

This makes it a lot easier to orient yourself in the chart, and if you have a lot of one color all together it can make it easier to count stitches. Say you had 23 stitches in a row of the same color; stitching across two squares plus three stitches is a lot easier to keep track of than having to manually count them as you go.

Want to learn more about gridding cross stitch fabric and why you would want to? Check out my post all about ways to grid cross stitch fabric over at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

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Crow Cross Stitch Patterns

In all my years writing about cross stitch, I don’t think I’ve ever had a post dedicated to crow cross stitch patterns. That’s a shame, because crows are cool, and they’re a great motif to use in the fall that has a bit of a Halloween/spooky vibe without necessarily being all pumpkins and ghosts (though we have some of that, too). 

Actually, these little crow cross stitch patterns from LaSelva Design could be up in the house year round, especially if you’ve made friends with crows or are trying to cultivate your own murder. This set of four patterns is each worked in four colors, and they’re shown in 3-inch hoops, though they vary in size a little bit. 

This Art Nouveau crow from Needle Lot Designs is stunning and reminds me a bit of a tarot card. It would be the perfect thing to stitch for a witchy friend. It measures 74 by 98 stitches, which comes out to 5.25 by 7 inches or 13.4 by 17.8 cm on 14 count fabric. It uses 14 colors and has no backstitching. 

Or keep it monochrome with PandoraXstitch‘s cross cross stitch pattern. I love how this one looks like a woodcut, and it shows you that even stitching in a single color you can make something really interesting. This design is 283 by 284 stitches, which is a little more than 20 inches or 51.5 cm not quite square on 14 count fabric. The pattern includes measurements for other counts if you want to make it a different size. 

The Book of Lost Keys design from Haunted Frames feels a little more Halloween, but it doesn’t have to be. It tells the story of a mama crow whose baby is locked in a cage, but the mama has the key. The design is shown worked on 18 count fabric and measures 109 by 79 stitches. That’s 6.1 by 4.4 inches, or about 15.5 by 11 cm. It uses four colors of regular floss as well as gold metallic floss. 

Speaking of more Halloween, I love this spooky cake stand featuring a crow and other characters from Ulysses Blue Stitching. You’ll find a creepy cake, eyeball in a jar, owl, ghosts and more haunting this house. It uses nine colors and measure 109 by 143 stitches. That’s 7.4 by 9.8 inches or 19.78 by 25.94 cm on 14 count fabric. 

I also like this kind of folk art crow (or raven as the pattern calls it) sitting on a pumpkin from MIYAstitch. This one measures a manageable 71 by 81 stitches and uses seven colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to a little more than 5 by almost 6 inches (or 13 by 15 cm). 

Another pumpkin and crow pattern (this time with a witch hat) comes from My Lovely Embroidery MB. This dare I say cute design uses seven colors as well ans is 81 by 80 stitches. That measures 5.79 by 5.71 inches, or 14.7 by 14.51 cm, on 14 count fabric. This one uses full and three-quarter stitches as well as French knots.