A Complete and Comprehensive Guide to Cross Stitching on Linen 

I'm glad to hear someone else pronounce Aida as it is spelled, like the Verdi opera.

I can’t tell you how helpful this was for me ! I bought a ton of 28 count linen and have been struggling to learn to stitch on it but I wasn’t giving up until I found someone like you to help me understand so THANK YOU 🙏! I would love to see more instructional videos from you !

Thanks. I much for this vid focused on linen! You are a great and practical teacher!

I want to "up my game!" Thank you for this video.

The amount of time and work put into a piece is exactly why you should wash after it’s finished if you want it to be archival. Your hands have oils in them that transfer to the fabric while you are handling it. If you don’t wash, your hard work is going to discolor over time. Only takes a light wash in a gentle degreaser like Dawn dish soap. It doesn’t disturb the work you put into it but it will preserve it so it can be enjoyed for years to come! I use glassine to cover portions I’m not working on to help minimize contact but the oils still need to be removed.

Yes, magnifier! Thank you! I will look for this kind. Makes so much sense, my older eyes need this.

This is an old video, but in case anyone watches it there are a few tips I’d like to impart from someone who has been cross stitching for 30 years. 1. Aida goes all the way to 22 count. It’s typically called “Hardanger”, but it’s Aida. I think the name is from a type of Norwegian cross stitch that is always done on 22 count. 2. Unless you’re using hand dyed specially fabric, you should absolutely wash your finished pieces. Use cold water. Only hand wash it and really it’s more like letting it sit in a clean sink or tub with a gentle soap like Dawn. Then gently rinsing, not letting the water pour over your fabric. No agitating it. You leave oils from your hands on the fabric and floss and it will discolor over time. Hang or lay flat on a towel to dry. You can carefully iron it as well. I never put the iron on my stitches, but iron from the back. 3. I’m not sure if she just wasn’t paying attention, but all of your stitches need to go the same direction. I always start in the bottom left corner and then go up to the top right, / . I do one leg of an entire stretch of color and then come back and do the other leg. So the return stitch is bottom right to top left. All my finished stitches will be going this way \ . You can absolutely do a full cross every time, but they still need to face the same way. 4. If you’re doing a full coverage, especially a Heaven and Earth, it’s essential you go for an Evenweave or an Aida. Aida will make the piece much larger than the design suggests. I do my full coverage on 25 count Lugana Evenweave. They even come pre-gridded to help with counting. 5. Linen seems to be the best choice when working on patterns that will be showing a lot of the fabric, such as Mirabilias and Bella Filiapina. Those are often done on beautifully hand dyed linens that complement the design and even Aida comes in hand dyed colors now. 5. If you’re using 2 threads, look up how to do a loop start! It will make your stitching so much faster and easier.

I have wanted to do cross stitch on linen for a year or two. I have a beautiful pattern of dragon flies in bamboo and it calls for 28 count Cashel linen. I watched several videos and this one was definetly the best one! I learned so much I thought I was ready...and it turned out beautiful!! Thank you so much for all the information and advice on equipment (I bought the magnifier and a good lamp). I have recommended this video to several of my friends who cross stitch also. Once again,, thank you so much for everything.

Love your video very informative!! I have been afraid of linen for years ...gonna go for it now!

Great video! Lots of great information. Thank you.

Very informative. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing , I just started cross stitching again on aida and I use to embroidery now there are so many fabrics to choose from and I wanted to try linen but It looked hard so now i will try 28 count . Thank you for your expertise.

Thank you so much for explaining all the differences! I am new to cross stitching and learning some differences of the linen. My first Aida cloth is like what you said it was stitching on burlap.

Thank you thank you!!!!!! 😊

I'm doing #SpookySummerStitch with Spooky Hollow on 28 count Cashel Linen. You are so right about being careful what fabric you choose. I've never done linen before and had no idea what 2 over 2 was. Thanks to you, I'll try it again. But I think I may go back to Aida from now on. I like how you show it's a modern fabric for modern designs and not taking the easy way out. Even though it's a lot easier! Thank you!

Fantastic video, you are a great communicator. Love the Canada flag 🇨🇦

This is why I must low key hate myself. Back when i first wanted to try cross stitching, I looked at the kits and found that they were too basic or they just didn't appeal to me. So I picked a DIY pattern which was Lavender and Lace's Angel of Hope. The second one? I picked Mirabilia's Sleeping Beauty. I never had any problems because I just went slow and steady. Did I go the hard road? Yes. But I truly enjoyed the journey. It just took me a bit longer to complete them. :)

Great ex-lanation of linen. I am going to do it! Thank you…….

Just found your channel and enjoyed this video. I do have a question though. When you were showing how to stitch, why do you crossover a different way on your second stitch. I learned that all the crossed stitches need to be going the same way.

Great video!! What needle brand and size do you use? Threading small eyes is such a bugger. Thanks for your help.

Great video! I've already done one project using the intermediate linen and it turned out beautiful! I came across your channel and decided to watch to see if I could pick up any tips and tricks and I did. The only problem I had doing my project was those "bumps and clumps" that I came across in the fabric. I kind of "winged it" and stitched over the bumps. It didn't seem to make a difference as to how the final stitch turned out. It blended in with the piece. Thank you so much for doing this video! You are a very good (and patient) teacher!

great video on the stitching but how do you read the chart? With aida you have a hole in each corner so you count the holes to move over to the next spot. How do you read the 36 count chart? If the letter "R" for example is stitched in the middle, and that is where I started, the next letter "S" is 8 squares over on the chart. So how many threads over is that on the linen if you are stitching over two like you did in the video? Would it be 16 threads over if 2 threads equal one cross stitch? This is very hard to explain. I hope you can follow what I am asking. No shops open so I can't ask anyone. Thank you for any help you can provide!

I will be sitting down to watch this soon, and maybe you cover this in the video. But was wondering, can I take a pattern in 14-count and do the pattern on 32-count linen? The second question is: I want the finished project, on the 32-count linen, to be larger than the pattern on 14-count; can I stitch 4 squares on the linen, for each square in the 14-count pattern, to make it larger? The 14-count will come out to 13 inches by 13 inches. What would be the measurements for the pattern on 32-count linen if I don't increase the amount of boxes verses using 4 boxes per box on 14-count pattern? How would I figure this out?

Hi, what is the name of the 28 count you are showing,is it Aida or some other name. Thanks

You show the linen examples but dont say the brands. So im not sure what to buy since i order online.

how do you read a pattern for linen

Aida comes in 18 and 20 easy guide

What is the brand of the magnifier please ? And you will needs glasses sometime in your life ,contacts maybe ?

OK so I'm working on the design The Nativity by Heaven and Earth design and I'm frustrated. I prefer even weave to Aida. However my project is coming out way too big. So I went and bought some linen and made a couple of stitches. When I compare them to the stitches on my even weave they are bigger. So my question is this the pattern says to use 25 ct linen if I'm using 28 ct even weave shouldn't my project be smaller then suppose to be? I'm really frustrated.

You have been stitching for twenty years, yet have never seen aida on anything over 16 count?? Wow... Well, I can inform you that 18 count aida is just as common and widely used in full coverage projects - even 20 count aida is fairly common!

Thanks great video. Not a criticism, just something I think you may like to know....I was told it’s pronounced A-da...not I-E-Da.

I thought we would be a learning actual names of the various types of Linens and the thread counts that they characteristically have. Instead I saw you shaking a piece of fabric and saying get this one without giving it a name. Is very frustrating