Expert: Kris - 8/29/2010

Question
I am trying to cross stich using a pattern from a book and I've never had to buy cloth before. My patterns that I'm using are 72x82, 98x51, 63x102, 109x93, and 95x94 how do I know what size fabric to buy?

Answer
Britni-

I will be happy to help with this question! The dimensions you are giving I believe are stitch counts. This tells you how many stitches across and how many stitches tall your piece will be. The size fabric you will need depends on what your fabric count is. One of the most common fabrics is Aida and it comes in 11, 14, 16, 18 and 22 count. Fabric count is the number of stitches per inch. There are lots of other types of fabrics also. Some of them have very high fabric counts. Usually if a fabric count is above 24 then you use a technique called stitching over 2, where your stitch covers 4 of the little squares on the fabric. When you use this technique you are cutting your stitch count in half. If you are working on 28 count fabric over 2, then you are getting 14 stitches to the inch.

Have a completely confused you? I hope not! To figure fabric size you need to divide your stitch count by your fabric count!

So 72 x 82 on a 14 count Aida would figure like this

72/14 = 5.2 or 5.5 (I always round up to the next half inch)
and
82/14 = 5.9 or 6

Then you should add at least 4 inches to each measurement for finishing purchases. That gives you about 2 inches on all 4 sides. I like to add 6 inches on really big pieces or pillow tops.

So 5.5 + 4 = 9.5 and 6 + 4 = 10, so your cut size would be 9.5 x 10 inches

Now, if you decided to stitch this on 32 count linen over 2, you would use the stitch count of 16 instead of 14 or

72/16 = 4.5 + 4 = 8.5 and
82/16 = 5.1 or 5.5 + 4 = 9.5

so 8.5 x 9.5 inches

I hope I was able to explain it for you. Please feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

Happy Stitching!
Kris