Cross Stitch Calculator for Fabric Size and Skeins

How does the cross stitch calculator work?

Every cross stitch covers one square of the fabric, so the size of a finished piece depends on two numbers: how many stitches the design has, and how many squares the fabric has per inch. Divide the first by the second and you have the size in inches. The calculator does that for width and height, converts to centimetres, and adds a margin so you know how big a piece of fabric to cut.

Take a design 100 stitches wide and 80 high on 14-count Aida. It comes out 7.1 × 5.7 inches (18.1 × 14.5 cm). With 3 inches spare on every side you need a piece of at least 13.1 × 11.7 inches (33.4 × 29.8 cm).

finished width (inches) = stitches across ÷ fabric count
finished width (cm)     = finished width (inches) × 2.54
fabric to cut (inches)  = finished width + 3 + 3

What does fabric count mean?

The count is the number of squares, and so stitches, in one inch of fabric. A higher count means smaller stitches and a smaller finished piece from the same chart. Evenweave and linen are usually stitched over two threads, so 28-count worked over two gives 14 stitches per inch, the same size as 14-count Aida.

14-count is the usual choice for a first project: the holes are easy to see and the stitches are big enough to read a chart against.

Source: Wikipedia: Aida cloth.

How much fabric should you buy?

Buy more than the finished size. The calculator adds 3 inches (about 7.6 cm) on every side: room to hold the fabric in a hoop while you stitch, and room to stretch or frame it afterwards. If you plan to have it framed, ask the framer first; some want a wider border.

Cut a little extra if the fabric edge frays easily, and keep the design centred: on charts from this site, the arrows in the middle of each edge mark the centre lines, so you can start from the middle of your fabric.

How many skeins of each colour do you need?

A skein covers a set number of stitches, and that number depends on the fabric: bigger squares take more thread per stitch. The table and the formula the calculator uses are shown right under its result, so you can check every number. With two strands, one skein covers about 1,500 stitches on 14-count.

Enter how many colours the design has, and the stitches of each colour if your chart lists them. Without the per-colour counts the calculator shares the stitches evenly between the colours, which is fine for a first estimate but can be short for the main colour of a picture. With one or three strands the result scales by half or one and a half.

Working it out from thread length gives about 1,800 stitches per skein on 14-count. The calculator uses 1,500 on purpose: running short halfway, and then finding a different dye lot in the shop, is worse than one spare skein. If you find it far off for your stitching, tell us and we will adjust it.

Why scattered stitches need more thread

Every time you start or finish a colour you lose a little thread at the back. A solid block of one colour is stitched in long runs; a stitch on its own costs a whole start and finish. So a picture full of single stitches uses noticeably more thread than its stitch count suggests.

This calculator cannot see your design, so it counts every stitch once; for a busy design with many lone stitches, buy a little extra. The photo pattern maker can see the chart: there, a stitch with fewer than three neighbours of the same colour counts one and a half times, and its colour key gives the skeins for each colour.

Know the size you want instead?

Choose “The size I want it to be” at the top of the calculator and enter the finished width and height in inches or centimetres. It works out how many stitches fit on each fabric, which is handy when the piece has to fill a frame you already own.

Starting from a photo or a name?

If you have a photo, the cross stitch pattern maker turns it into a chart and fills in the stitch count for every colour, so the thread list is done for you. For a name or a short phrase, the cross stitch letters tool does the same with text.