1. Michelle Pigeon

3.  First you start out by choosing your fabric. By using measurement you can determine the size that you need the design to be. Fabric count will determine the finished size of the design. The most common used fabric is Aida 14 (14 stitches per inch of fabric) about 2” wide. Most designs give you different sizes for different counts of fabrics telling you the size of the finished design.

4.  Second you need to find the center of the design and fabric. Following the 2 arrows on the chart to the middle of the design you can find the center stitch where they intersect on the chart. Next you need to find the center of your fabric, fold the fabric in half and then in half again, marking the middle square with a pencil/pen. This is where you will start stitching your design.

5.  When cross stitching you need to complete one color at a time. By doing one color at a time you need to determine the amount of floss that you will need for that section. Estimate the amount of skeins for a color needed to complete the pattern.

7.  Cross stitching requires a lot of counting. You can use part- part-whole for large sections knowing that each square (bold lines) is a 10x10 square. For example, if you are working on the border starting in the bottom left corner you would count 7 over and realize that there are 4 larger boxes and 1 small box remaining meaning 7+10+10+10+10+1=48 or 7+(4 x 10)+1=40 squares across. 7 +( 10 + 10 + 10 + 10) + 1 =48

9.  Cross stitching incorporates angles, shapes, and coordinates.  There are a lot of 90° angles, 45° angles, and 135° interwoven into a cross stitch pattern.  Some patterns have symmetry. For instance, the pattern surrounding Tigger is symmetrical.

11.  Algebra is used in cross stitching through ratios(rise over run), patterns, and meaningful use of reading symbols.  By reading symbols you learn which color to use on the pattern.

13.  Cross stitching even incorporates fractions.  They have a whole stitch, one-quarter stitch, and three-quarter stitch.  The one-quarter stitch is only one quarter of the whole stitch. (one corner of the X) where the three- quarter stitch goes through three corners of the X.