A Beginner's Guide to Crosstitching, Learning to Sew

Crosstitching has been around almost as long as clothing, some samples have been found from as early as 711 A.D. with the early Egyptians. Over twenty years ago, I taught myself the art that was taught to many Europeans girls as a way to learn the basics of sewing. By learning to crosstitch, you can pass it on so that it will never become a lost art.

To begin, you will need to gather supplies and prepare them. The supplies you will need are a 11-count Aida cloth, colored thread, size 24 needles, a hoop, sharp scissors and an area with good lighting. Once you have all of your supplies, prepare them for sewing before you begin. Being prepared beforehand, saves time and frustration later.

This article will teach some of the basic stitches needed to create a beautiful piece of art. After each lesson, you can use your needle to undo your work and practice the stitch over again. Remember, practice makes perfect.

The basic crosstitch: Insert the needle through the hole from the back of the fabric being careful not to pull the thread completely through, you want to leave at least an inch of a tail in the back of the fabric, then insert the needle in the hole diagonally, to the right. Pull the needle and thread through the fabric, making sure to leave the tail in the back and not to pull the thread too tightly. You have just finished a half stitch. Next, insert the needle through the lower right corner of the square directly below the top half stitch from the back of the piece, pull the needle through making sure to catch the tail with the loop formed. Now, place the needle through the top left hand corner of the square, pull the needle through. Flip the hoop over, slip the needle under the back of the stitch, pull the floss through and tighten the floss. Snip the existing tail and the floss in the needle, leaving about a half inch of floss. You have just completed one cross stitch, use your needle to adjust the stitch or pull on the ends of the floss to tighten the stitch, if needed.

To complete a row of stitches in a colorblock: Follow the instructions for making a half stitch. Continue making half stitches until you have made five, then work back across the stitches, crossing each one. Once you have crossed all the stitches, flip the material over to the back and secure the floss by running the needle and floss under the back of the stitches.

To make a block of crosstitches: Follow the instructions for making a row of half stitches. At the end of the row of half stitches, bring the needle up as if you were going to cross the row, but instead, stitch a row of half stitches from right to left. This row will be stitched from the top right to the bottom left of each square. Remember, when going left, you will be stitching from bottom to top, when making a row moving right, stitch from top to bottom. Make several more rows then begin crossing the rows of half stitches, working up the block from the bottom. Once the final cross has been made, be sure to secure the floss by running the needle and thread under the back of the stitches.

To make a back stitch: To begin, make a waste knot at the end of the floss. Bring the needle up from the back of the fabric then insert it in the hole right above it, pull the needle and floss through. From the back, insert the needle through the empty hole right above the one you just passed the needle through and bring the needle and thread to the top of the fabric. From the top of the fabric, insert the needle in the hole right below the one the needle just came through, this completes the first back stitch. Continue by going to the next empty hole up, putting the needle up through the fabric then putting the needle through the hole below the one just passed through drawing the needle and thread to the back of the fabric. A row of back stitches have just been made.

Now you are ready to pick a pattern and begin your newly learned craft.