how big will my cross stitch pattern be?

So you’ve decided to get into the wonderful world of cross stitch embroidery. You may have even used a kit before, but once you move away from kits and want to use printable counted cross stitch charts or even design your own. There is one question you need to address straight away. How big will my cross stitch pattern be?

How to calculate the size

• Every cross stitch pattern is made up on a grid and each square on the grid represents a stitch. To work out how big your cross stitch pattern will be, simply count the number of stitches in the height and width.

• Note down those numbers. Then decide what fabric count you will be stitching on. Which range from 11 count to 32. You can find this on the fabric when you purchase it.
• The fabric count shows how many stitches you can fit in a one inch row. So for example if your chart was 110 stitches and you were stitching on 11 count you divide 110 by 11 and the pattern will therefore be 10 inches. If it were 14 count it will be 7.85 inches.

• You can get a pdf conversion chart to print and keep with you cross stitch supplies.
• The higher the count number the smaller your final design will be. Which is worth noting if you ever want to scale up or down a design.
• If this all seems to much work, simply use one on my great free cross stitch patterns, as I’ve done the work for you and all the charts come with the dimensions printed on them!

What is the standard size for cross stitch

Most cross stitch patterns are designed with 14 count as the standard size fabric. All my free printable patterns in my library are on 14 count.

How big is 14 count cross stitch

14 count cross stitch means you can stitch 14 stitches per inch.

How do you estimate how long a cross stitch will take?

The best way to estimate how long a cross stitch will take is to stitch a test square. Time how long it takes you to stitch a one inch square and then times this by how many inches you pattern is.

Obviously this doesn’t include the time it takes you to thread you needle and change colours. Bare in mind if you have lots of colour changes this will add time to the final project.

But this is a good way to get a rough idea of how long it will take you, which is good if you are stitching to a deadline like a wedding.

How much border do you leave on a cross stitch

As a minimum if you are working in a hoop or a frame you should add two inches in all directions to ensure you have enough fabric to finish the project correctly.

If you want to work on smaller ‘scrap’ pieces, perhaps off cuts from a previous project you don’t need to leave such a generous boarder if you are going to work in hand. This is good for small motif projects that can be used for cards and gift tags. Alphabet monograms and tiny cross stitch projects are great for these stash busting ideas.

Download the cross stitch conversion chart here