LearnStitch and finish
What to learn after your first cross stitches: a map of the next skills
After a few pieces of full crosses on Aida, the next skills are small steps, not a course: part stitches for curves, backstitch for outlines, parking for busy charts, evenweave stitched over two, blending two shades in one needle, finishing and making a chart of your own. Learn one per project, on a small chart where a mistake costs an evening.
On this page
Nobody needs all of this. Cross stitch rewards one new thing per project: learn it on a small chart, where a mistake costs an evening and not a month. This page is a map, ordered by how soon each skill tends to turn up. Each entry says what a chart looks like when it asks for it, and where to learn it here.
| Skill | When a chart asks for it | Learn it |
|---|---|---|
| Part stitches | Curves and small detail: squares cut by a diagonal, or a symbol in a corner | Fractional stitches |
| Backstitch and knots | Outlines, whiskers, eyes, small dots | Stitch library |
| Parking | Many colours scattered through one area | The parking method |
| Evenweave or linen, over two | A chart that names “28-count, over two” | Over two |
| Blending | One key row listing two thread numbers | Blended needle |
| Finishing | Any piece you want to hang | Wash, iron and frame |
| A chart of your own | A name, a date or a photo | Alphabets, Photo to pattern |
Part stitches
A chart uses a quarter, half or three-quarter stitch where a full cross would be too blocky: the curve of a petal, a bird’s eye, the edge of a letter. You will see a square split along a diagonal, or a small symbol pushed into one corner. Fractional stitches shows how each is made and how to tell them apart, and the library has a page for each: half stitch, quarter stitch, three-quarter stitch and the petite cross.
None of our free patterns uses part stitches, so for a first try you need a designer’s chart that does. The key says so.
Backstitch, knots and the stitch library
Backstitch is the line you sew after the crosses, to outline a shape or add a thin detail. It usually takes one strand fewer than the crosses, often a single strand. A French knot makes a dot, such as an eye. Both sit in the stitch library, where each stitch has a diagram you can step through.
For a first backstitch, two of the free charts are small. Robin in a Santa hat is 67 × 74 stitches with 23 colours and backstitch, and its page rates it Intermediate. Bumblebee and clover is smaller, 41 × 48 and 1,006 stitches, with backstitch in four colours, and its page rates it Advanced. Pick by how many colours you want to handle. See Robin in a Santa hat and Bumblebee and clover.
Parking and stitching a busy chart faster
On a chart with many colours scattered through one area, you can spend more time changing thread than stitching. Parking leaves each thread waiting on the front of the cloth, in the hole where you will need it next, so you do not end and restart it for every block. The parking method walks through a 10 × 10 block step by step. How to keep your place compares it with working one colour at a time.
Evenweave and linen, over two
On evenweave and linen the cloth has single threads, not Aida’s blocks, and you work each cross over two threads each way. 28-count over two gives 14 crosses to the inch, the same size as 14-count Aida. Linen’s threads vary in thickness, which makes counting harder, so begin on a light evenweave. Read a pattern explains how a chart states it, and how many strands matches strands to count. Cloth counts and sizes are on the fabric counts page, and the fabric calculator works out how much to buy.
Blending two shades
Some charts make a colour that does not exist as one thread by putting a strand of two shades together in the needle. The chart’s key lists both numbers in one row. Separate the strands of each colour as usual, lay one of each side by side, and thread them together. Keep the same total number of strands you would use for one colour on that cloth. See the glossary for the words and how many strands for the totals.
Finishing
A piece is not finished at the last stitch. Washing, ironing without flattening the crosses, and framing change how it looks on the wall more than any stitch does. How to wash, iron and frame a finished cross stitch covers all three.
A chart of your own
When you can read a chart well, you can make one. The alphabets and name maker turn a name, initials or a date into a chart in one of five alphabets, with Latin, Ukrainian and Russian letters and accents. Photo to pattern turns a photo of your own into a chart.
Pick one
Choose one skill from the table, one small chart that asks for it, and change nothing else in that project: same fabric, same strands, same way of keeping your place. Browse the free patterns by stitch count. When the piece is done, choose the next skill.
If a chart is long enough that you start losing your place, see paper chart or app.
Questions people ask
What should I learn after beginner cross stitch?
Part stitches and backstitch, because charts with curves and fine detail use them. After that, parking for busy charts and evenweave for finer work. You do not need all of them: learn the one your next chart asks for.
How do I get better at cross stitch?
Stitch charts a little harder than the last one, and change one thing at a time. Check the back of your work as you go: even crosses with the top leg lying the same way, and no long jumps behind.
Is evenweave harder than Aida?
It is harder to count, because there are no blocks, only crossing threads, and every cross covers two threads each way. Linen is harder again, since its threads vary. Start with a light evenweave and a chart you know.
What is blending in cross stitch?
Putting one strand of two different shades in the same needle to make a colour in between. The chart’s key lists both thread numbers in one row.