Stitching on Aida

All the fabrics in the Aida family are woven with the threads grouped into bundles to form a square pattern on the fabric, which in turn creates obvious holes.

The stitches are formed using these holes. Aida is available in many different colours and counts and because it is so easy to see the holes and therefore where to put the needle, beginners tend to work on Aida.

This picture shows how the fabric count affects the size of the finished motif.

The advantages of Aida are:

It is wonderful for cross stitch as it creates very square stitches
It is easy to see where to put your needle
Projects seem to grow quickly
It is perfect for checks, tartan and gingham designs
It frays less than evenweaves, unless encouraged
Aida is now available made of linen threads, which is lovely to handle

The disadvantages of Aida are:

Fractional stitches are more difficult to form
You are limited to using the holes created by the fabric manufacturer
Some counted stitches need more fabric threads for formation

Stitching on Evenweave

Stitching on evenweave fabric is no more difficult than stitching on aida - you only need to be able to count to two! In fact, working on 28-count linen gives the same design size as 14-count aida.

This range of fabrics has threads woven singly rather than in blocks. Evenweaves are available in many colours and counts and working on evenweave is not difficult, just different.