Learning to cross stitch doesn’t have to be intimidating. If you know how to accomplish five basic stitches then you will be on your way to a bright and stitchy future. Once you have these stitches down you can build up and try more intermediate stitches. While these beginning stitches may seem like no-brainers, if you master them, you will have a beautiful end product. You can use this stitch on any kind of fabric, but the most common is Aida cloth, which ranges in a variety of sizes. If you are just beginning, a larger weave of this fabric is the best. You can also use plastic canvas for practice. Don’t limit yourself to just fabric with this stitch, branch out to nonconventional ideas such as wicker chairs, netting for screen doors or tennis rackets. A half stitch, just one over can be used as a backstitch. A backstitch will go up and down instead of diagonal. Half stitches are used for more detail, such as eyes, rounded corners on flowers and creating spirals. A half stitch can create a nice flow to rounded patterns. They are used to create circles where just a normal stitch would create a box. You will see this stitch a lot in patterns for faces and creating spirals for flowers and pumpkins. It will add depth to your project and ensure that the piece does not look blocked, but flows. Be careful when using this stitch on linen; it may pull the fabric out of shape and cause distortion. Practice on a bigger piece of Aida fabric before tackling this stitch on linen. Back stitches are the easiest of all stitches and used to add more definition to a design. It is used a lot to outline a piece of stitching to show what the pattern really is. Aside from lettering, it can also be used for facial expressions. It gives dimension and makes a pattern more defined. It is fun to add contrasting colors for projects that include clothing or flowers. While this is a simple stitch, learning black work is complicated. You can use a back stitch in just about any cross stitch project. This stitch is great for fabric that is specific to cross stitches, such as cotton apron fabric or denim. You can manipulate this stitch to make circles and flowing letters.
