Choosing embroidery fabric
for counted thread projects

The hand embroidery fabric used for cross stitch differs from what you would pick for surface embroidery.

Woven fabric has threads going across and down at right angles. We know these as the warp and the weft.

When cross stitching, you need an even number of threads going each way to ensure your stitches are all the same size and shape.

They then fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to recreate the pattern charted on a squared grid.

Other counted thread techniques created similarly include blackwork, Hardanger, and pulled work.

Needlepoint also uses an evenly woven ground, but in this case it is canvas. 

The size of the chart does not dictate the size of your design.

That is determined by how many threads fit into an inch of the fabric.

If there are more threads, you will fit more stitches into the same area and the project will end up smaller.

When creating surface embroidery, the design is printed or drawn onto a closely woven fabric and you chose what size to work each stitch.

What does "thread count" mean?

The photo below shows, from left to right, Aida 14 count, Linda evenweave, and a natural coloured 36 count linen. All of which comprise natural fibers. 

Hang on, 14 count, what is that all about?  

Counted thread embroidery works on fabric with an equal number of both horizontal and vertical threads per inch.

The "count" of a fabric is determined by this figure. Fabrics with 14 to 36 threads per inch are most commonly used today.

The higher the count, the smaller the stitches will be. The smaller the stitches are, the smaller the design will end up.

This knowledge can prove useful if you have a pattern you wish to stitch, but discover it would turn out slightly too large if stitched on the recommended fabric.

For example, if your design is 140 stitches wide, it will measure 10 inches on 14 count, or 8.75 inches if you swap to an 18 count fabric.

Don't want to do the calculations yourself? Use this free handy cross stitch calculator to do it for you! 

The video below will explain the differences between different counts in an easy-to-understand way. 

Video: Embroidery Fabric Count Explained

You can follow along by clicking the transcript button, below.

Aida cloth

Owl stitched on Aida 14

Aida is a fabric made of cotton threads woven in a block formation.

Aida cloth is perfect if you are new to stitching because the solid blocks of fabric threads have well-defined holes in each corner, making it easy to see where the needle goes.

However, you may not like the fact that the blocks will be visible in your finished hand embroidery project.

As you gain experience, you might like to move on to using plain weave fabrics.

Another drawback to Aida is that it's difficult to pierce the centre of a block if your design includes fractional stitches.

Doing so can also potentially damage your embroidery floss.

Before we move on, I must mention that I have used affiliate links further down this page. These allow you to buy embroidery fabric online while this site will benefit by a commission from each sale.

Aida is available in counts of 11, 14, 16, 18 and 22. The most popular of these is 14 count.

It is common to use 2 strands of embroidery floss when working on fabric of this size.

I find 18 is getting just a little too difficult to see for comfortable stitching now the years are catching up with me. Time for a little magnification!

• Click here for different colors and counts of Aida cloth

Hardanger fabric

Hardanger fabric, or Oslo, is also a 100% cotton fabric woven in a block weave format. It has 22 threads to the inch, which lay in pairs. The holes are less obvious than in Aida.

As well as for Hardanger embroidery, we can use this material for other counted thread techniques. It is possible to split the double thread to stitch an area of more detail. 

White Hardanger 22 count fabric is available from Amazon.

Linen fabric

Hardanger worked on 32 count linen

If my budget permits, I find pure linen is the best fabric to embroider on. Linen is a durable, single thread hand embroidery fabric woven from flax.

Because of the fibre, fabrics made from linen can have bumps or "slubs" which make them more tricky to work on. Loosely woven linens mean that any embroidery floss carried across the back of the work is visible from the front. Linen embroidery fabrics come in a variety of thread counts and color choices. 

Some well-known linens are:

• Glenshee - 19 count
• Dublin - 25 count
• Cashel linen - 28 count
• Belfast linen - 32 count
• Edinburgh - 36 count

We can also use linen for surface embroidery, where the more threads there are in the ground fabric, the better. 

Other evenweave fabrics

Lugana 25 count

Lugana is an evenly woven cotton blend fabric composed of 52% cotton and 48% viscose. It comes in different thread counts, normally worked over two fabric threads.

If you haven't tried this yet, check this page for instructions on how to stitch on evenweaves and linen.

Lugana is available on Amazon in an assortment of colours.

Jobelan 28 count

Jobelan is made from 51% cotton and 49% modal. It comes in either a 28 or 32 thread count evenweave, with a slight sheen that is ideal for stitching table linens or cushions (pillows). Being a cotton blend, it hangs well and is easy to wash.

Jobelan is available on Amazon

Annabelle 28 count fabric

If you like the look of linen with its uneven slubs, you may also enjoy stitching on Annabelle. Made from 100% cotton, it also has thick and thin threads which give it the linen-like effect.

Want another option?

How about if you want to stitch a counted thread embroidery pattern on a garment that is not made of an evenweave material? Well, there is a way around that! You can use waste canvas.

This is a grid of threads that you baste onto the garment where you want to stitch a motif. You then work through both the waste canvas and the garment fabric. When the design is complete, you wet the canvas and then pull out the threads with tweezers, leaving the design sitting on the garment.

If you fancy learning more, and seeing photos of the process, be sure to check out my waste canvas page.