How to Grid Cross Stitch Fabric

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]

Works by ABC sells both PDFs and paper patterns of many of its designs, which include temperature projects, intricate designs that look like lace, floral designs and more.

The patterns are only organized by PDF or paper, so you’ll just have to scroll through to see all the options.

There are fractal designs, holiday projects (including Hanukkah), mandalas, snowflakes, seasonal patterns, biscornu and more. (Learn more about biscornu here.)

The lace inspired designs are the ones that really caught my eye, so let’s take a closer look at one of those. This one is just called exquisite lace, and that’s a totally valid name because that is what it is.

This single color design is all full cross stitches, but because of the size and level of detail I’d still say it is best for intermediate to advanced cross stitchers. The design is 205 by 331 stitches and it is shown worked on 36 count linen stitched over two threads. The 36 count is equivalent to 18 count Aida, so that makes the finished project 11.4 by 18.4 inches, or 28.9 by 46.7 cm.

It’s really pretty on the gray fabric shown but would be great with any dark color like blue, green or black as well.

There are actually four more listings in the paper pattern section than there are in the PDF section, but I assume for the most part any pattern that you can get in one format you can get in the other. Patterns that are printed appear to be $2 more expensive (based on the few that I checked) and there is a charge for shipping but it’s nice to have the option if you like a printed pattern and don’t have an easy way to print at home.

Check out all the available patterns in print and digital form at Works by ABC. And be sure to let me know if you know of a designer who should be in the spotlight!

[Photo: Works by ABC]

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