When you are completing your custom cross stitch pattern you are probably going to want to mark out your Aida cloth so that you can be certain that you are quite literally working on the same page. With many of the custom cross stitch patterns that you will find on this site, you can easily get lost if your Aida cloth is not clearly marked. In order to keep things as simple as possible, we always limit our grids to one-hundred stitches or ten stitches in width and ten stitches in height.

            If you are working with size ten Aida cloth, you will have grids that are one square inch and ten stitches high by ten stitches wide. If you are working on size fourteen Aida cloth, you will have grids that are something less than one square inch but will still be ten stitches in height and ten stitches in width. Thus, if you are working with any of the custom cross stitch patterns from us, you will want to mark your cross stitch pattern in ten by ten stitch squares or grids.

            Additionally, it is a good idea to remember that we do not allow any additional “spacing” on the edge of our custom cross stitch patterns. It is a always a good idea to cut your Aida cloth at least one grid long on every side. One inch is better, in case there is any unraveling of the cloth or other issues. Some people will also want to add custom cross stitch borders to their completed cross stitch artwork so they will need to cut their Aida cloth even larger in order to have room to stitch in the borders and also to avoid the pattern itself being destroyed by fraying or other wear and tear that normally begins on the edges of the cross stitch work.

            Mark the Aida cloth exactly the same as the pattern that you have. Here that generally involves ten stitches by ten stitches but it is never safe to assume that this will always be the case. Count the inside stitches and the centering marks to be certain that your grids are the same size as the grids on the pattern. Use a lead pencil to mark your cloth. The lead pencil can be easily erased if you make errors and will disappear when you wash your finished cross stitch artwork and prepare it for display.

            In order to trace your lines, it is generally easiest to mark the edges of your pattern first … you may want to do this before you actually cut your cloth unless you are buying pieces in the store and do not have access to large amounts of Aida cloth at home. In that case, just tell them the size that you need for the pattern plus at least one inch additionally for all four sides … or two inches wider and two inches longer than the actual size of your pattern … though this may have to be expanded if you are planning on stitching a border on your custom cross stitch work or depending on how you intend to frame and display your finished cross stitch artwork.

            After your edges have been traced, count in ten squares (or however the grids are sectioned off in your pattern) and begin drawing lines from one edge of the pattern to the other extending your marks over the edges of the pattern itself the entire length of the Aida cloth so that as your pattern begins to fill up, you can still find and identify all of your grids to be certain that you get all of your stitches in their proper places.

            To make tracing easier, place your Aida cloth on a large, hard and flat surface and use a very sharp pencil. Hold the pencil very lightly, just barely more than the weight of the pencil on the cloth and go from stitch hole to stitch hole in the Aida cloth and before you finish marking your very first custom cross stitch pattern, you should see the pencil sliding easily along the same lines. Though one of the reasons for marking it so lightly is just in case you do stray outside the lines a little, you can still easily erase your errant marks. Repeat the process as needed to make marks that are clearly visible and you are ready to begin completing your custom cross stitch pattern.