Climbing Goat’s Guide to
CROSS STITCHING
Cross stitching is fun, easy and relaxing. Just follow these instructions to get started!
Materials
You will need:
♦♦ Aida fabric
100% cotton is best
♦♦ DMC threads
Climbing Goat patterns give the numbers for each shade needed
Genuine branded threads are less likely to run than substitutes
♦♦ Tapestry needle suitable for cross stitch
Blunt ended and larger than a normal sewing needle
♦♦ Sewing scissors to snip the threads
You can just use kitchen scissors if you don’t have sewing scissors
♦♦ Embroidery hoop or frame (optional)
Some people prefer stitching with a hoop, but it isn’t essential
Aida
Aida is a fabric woven to form squares with holes at their corners. This makes it ideal to cross stitch on, as one
cross stitch is stitched over one square of the aida. In counted cross stitch the picture is stitched onto a blank
piece of aida. You don’t mark the fabric, but instead stitch by referring to the pattern.
Aida is described as having a ‘count’. The count gives the number of squares per inch. If you’re not sure of the
count of the aida you’re using, place a ruler along a line of squares – the number of squares in one inch will
be the fabric count. Lower count fabrics have larger squares and will result in a larger, but less finely detailed,
picture. Climbing Goat pattern sizes are given in stitches and in inches and cm for 14 count aida, but the pattern
size can easily be worked out for any other count. The fabric should be 2-3 inches larger than the pattern size on
each side, so add 4-6 inches to both the picture width and height. This gives space at the edges for framing or
making the picture up into a finished item, and also allows for fraying at the edges as you stitch.
Pattern basics
♦♦ Each square of the aida is represented by a square in the grid on the pattern.
♦♦ A symbol in a square means that you stitch the corresponding colour in that square.
♦♦ Each symbol relates to a specific colour, as shown in the key at the back of the pattern.
♦♦ The grid is marked in units of 10, moving away from the centre, in order to help you keep track of where
you are as you stitch.
♦♦ The black arrowheads at the sides of the pattern point to the centre.
Getting started
Gently fold your aida piece in half and make a small crease near the centre.
Unfold and then repeat by folding the fabric the other way. This will give
you a small creased cross showing the centre of the aida. Make the centre
mark clearer by stitching a thread through the nearest holes and loosely
knotting it. This shows the centre without marking the fabric, and once
you have started stitching you can remove this thread.
Preparing your thread
Choose a colour near the centre of the pattern so that you don’t have
to count too far and potentially make a mistake. Draw out a thread of
your chosen colour from the skein, and cut it – about 24 inches is a good
length. Embroidery thread is made up of six separate strands, and you
don’t stitch with all six at once, so the thread needs to be split. Gently
draw out one strand of the thread, holding the others together so that
they don’t get tangled up.
The first stitch
♦♦ Cross stitches are stitched with two strands of thread.
Take your single strand and bring the two ends together.
♦♦ Thread these two ends through the needle together, so
that you have a loop on one side and the two ends on the
other side of the needle.
♦♦ Count on the pattern the number of stitches, in both
directions, from the centre point to the left edge of the block
of colour you are starting on. Then count to this position on
the aida.
♦♦ Bring your needle up through the hole at the bottom left
corner of the relevant aida square. Then bring the needle
down through the hole at the top right corner of the square,
making a diagonal stitch.
♦♦ Turn the fabric over, and draw the needle through the
loop at the other end of the thread, tightening it until it is
secure at the back of the fabric.
♦♦ This is called the loop method. The end is now secure
and you are ready to start cross stitching!
Cross stitching
Cross stitch in a row forming one arm of the X for each stitch, as shown in the pictures - the numbers give the
order of the stitches. Count on the pattern how many stitches you need for that row.
FRONT BACK
2 4 6 8 10 12
1 3 5 7 9 11 13
Then stitch back along the row, forming the other arm of each X, to complete the crosses. Make sure you have
the topmost arms of the crosses pointing in the same direction for every cross - this will make a big difference to
how good your final piece looks. Keep stitching in rows in this way until you have filled the area you are stitching
in that colour. Pencilling in the squares you have stitched on the pattern really helps keep track of where you are.
When you need to form different length rows or different shapes in stitches, you can make a diagonal or horizontal
stitch at the back in order to get to the right place to start the next row. It’s best not to have stitches at the back
more than two or three aida squares long. If you need to get between areas further apart than that, either thread
the needle under a few stitches at the back so that there isn’t a long trailing thread, or finish off and start again
at the new section.
Finishing off
When you have neared the end of the thread or finished a section of one colour, run your needle under several
stitches at the back and draw the thread through. Then run the needle under more stitches going in a different
direction so that it is really secure, and snip any remaining thread so that the end is neat.
Backstitch
In some patterns backstitch is used to add lines around the edges of cross stitched areas to make them stand out
more. It can also be used on its own to form lines or text. Backstitch is shown in lines on the pattern, rather than
symbols. Backstitch is usually done with one strand of thread, though sometimes with two - the pattern will tell
you which to use. If you are using one strand you can’t start with the loop start, so you need to stitch over the
end of the thread to secure it (see below).
Bring your needle up through one hole in the aida, down through the next one, and up through the next as
shown. Then, go backwards for one stitch and bring the needle down through the hole you went down through
before, then back up through the last hole again. Continue with one forwards stitch and one backwards stitch to
form a continuous line.
1 2 3 1 2 3 6 7 10 11
4 5 8 9 12 13
To secure the beginning of the thread, hold it for the first few stitches so that as you stitch, the stitches at the
back go over it and hold it in place. The first picture below shows this with the thread end exaggeratedly looped
so that it can be clearly seen, and the second shows how it looks without exaggeration. When the end is secured
by a number of stitches, snip the end and carry on backstitching. To finish off, thread the needle under other
stitches in the same way as for cross stitching.
Fractional stitches
Fractional stitches are shown on patterns by a smaller symbol nearer to one corner of the grid square. If you
look closely at your aida you will see that each square is made up of four strands going in each direction. In
a fractional stitch you put the needle through the middle of these four strands (ie two strands along and two
up) and pierce the aida square. To stitch a fractional stitch, bring the needle up through the corner of the aida
square nearest the symbol on the pattern (picture 1), then down through the centre of the square (2). This makes
a quarter stitch. Then stitch across the other diagonal of the aida square in the normal way to form the full
fractional stitch or three quarter stitch (3).
If the pattern has two fractional stitches in opposite corners of a square, either do a three quarter stitch in one
corner and a quarter stitch in the other, according to which colour you think is most important, or do two three
quarter stitches with the central diagonal stitches lying parallel to each other.
1 2 3
French knots
♦♦ When French knots are used they are marked as dots on the pattern and in the pattern key.
♦♦ Start having already secured the thread, or in between cross stitching or backstitching.
♦♦ Bring the needle and thread fully up through the hole where the French knot is marked on the pattern
♦♦ Pull out the middle of the thread between the fabric and the needle with one hand, and twist it around the
needle once (picture 1) and then a second time (2).
♦♦ Keeping hold of the middle of the thread and keeping it taut, carefully push the needle down through the
section of the aida square just one aida strand away from the hole you brought the needle up through (3). If you
bring it down through the same hole then your knot is at risk of pulling through, so having this one strand of aida
fabric there is important. Don’t go as far as the next aida hole as that won’t form a neat knot.
♦♦ Continue holding the thread taut as you pull the needle through the fabric, and then carefully pull all the
thread through (4) leaving you with your French knot (5).
1 2
3 4
When you’re done
5 When you’ve finished all the stitching, you may like to
gently hand wash your work in lukewarm water, and
iron it under a towel, to get rid of dirt and creases.
It’s then ready to frame, or make into a cushion or
other masterpiece! I hope you enjoy cross stitching -
have fun!
www.climbinggoat.co.uk
