The Basic Full Cross-Stitch

What you will learn

• Making a single cross
• Working a row in two passes
• Keeping the top leg consistent

Materials and tools

• 14-count Aida cloth, white or cream
• Tapestry needle size 24 (blunt tip)
• Six-strand embroidery floss
• Embroidery scissors
• 4 or 5 in (10 or 13 cm) hoop (optional on stiff Aida)

1. One cross: bring the needle up through the hole at the bottom left corner of a square. Go down through the top right corner. That is the bottom leg.

2. Come up at the bottom right corner and go down at the top left. The top leg now crosses the bottom leg.
3. A row: starting at the left, make only the bottom leg in each square along the row. Up at the bottom left, down at the top right, then up at the bottom left of the next square.
4. At the end of the row, come up at the bottom right of the last square and work back, adding the top legs: up at the bottom right, down at the top left.
5. Drop down to the next row and repeat. The back of the work should show neat vertical lines.
6. Use the two-pass row method for runs of the same colour. Complete crosses one at a time for scattered single stitches and when using variegated thread.

Tips for a neat result

• Say the corners aloud at first: bottom left, top right, bottom right, top left.
• Pull just until the stitch lies flat.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check your result

• Every top leg slants the same direction.
• Crosses fill their squares fully and corners share holes with neighbouring stitches.
• The back shows mostly short vertical lines.

Projects that use this