Welcome to part 2 of our Learn How to Cross Stitch series! Now that you’ve gathered your supplies, you are ready to begin cross stitching. The first step in the cross stitching process is preparing your fabric for stitching by: finding the center of your fabric and putting the embroidery hoop on.
Finding the Center of Your Fabric
Cross stitch patterns are stitched by beginning in the center of the design and working your way outward. The patterns will have arrows on the side that point you to the center of the design, so you’ll have to find the center of your fabric in order to start stitching. Here are some tips on how to find the center of your fabric:
First, take your fabric and cut it to the correct size that you need for the design.
Next, fold your fabric horizontally (hamburger style).
Then unfold your fabric, and fold lengthwise (hot dog style).
Now you’ve created creases in the fabric. The point at where they intersect is the middle of your fabric, and where you will begin stitching.
Putting on the Embroidery Hoop
The next step for preparing your fabric is putting the embroidery hoop on. Using the embroidery hoop will help your fabric remain taught, which will help in keeping the tension of your stitches the same. Here’s how to secure the embroidery hoop:
First gather your fabric, and separate the two pieces of the embroidery hoop.
Then place the half of the hoop with the screw on it on top of the fabric, and the other half of the hoop directly beneath the top one underneath the fabric.
Next, push the top half of the hoop till both it and the fabric go over the other half, and are pushed together. In order to get the hoop over the fabric, you will have to loosen the screw on the hoop so that it can fit over it.
Once the hoops are pushed together, it will look like this from the top with the fabric crinkled on the edges. If your fabric feels to loose, pull the edges and tighten the screw so that it is secure.
The hoop will look like this from the back. Your fabric is now secured in your hoop.
Now that your fabric is prepared, you are ready to begin stitching! The next part in the series will show you how to do the first method of cross stitching, the English method. Click here to read that post and begin cross stitching!
Happy stitching!
~Claire