Choosing Your Fabric

There are dozens of fabrics to choose from. They will all work, so you just have to decide on what you like. White or ivory Aida 14 is the most common and 14 count is an easy fabric to start on. The number of stitches per inch will determine the finished size of the design. A design that is 28 stitches wide stitched on Aida 14 (14 stitches per inch fabric) will be 2" wide. The same design will be 2 1/2" wide on Aida 11, and 1 1/4" stitched on hardanger (22 stitches per inch). Thankfully, most designs show design sizes for different counts of fabrics. Be sure to allow extra fabric for finishing (at least 4" extra on length and width).

To Begin

Find the center of the graph. For most patterns this is shown with arrows or a bold line. Next, find the center of your fabric. An easy way to do this is to fold the fabric in half vertically and "pinch" with your finger to make a small crease. Open the fabric, fold in half horizontally and make another "pinch". Open the fabric up. The two creases will mark the center of the fabric. Most stitchers like to start stitching close to the center of the design. For the "I Like You" graph, start with the pink balloon.