Stitch school

Everything you need to stitch with confidence.

Clear guides for your first hoop and your hundredth, checked against trusted needlework sources.

Pet Memorial Cross Stitch: Charting a Pet Who's Gone

How to make a pet memorial cross stitch when you can't take a new photo: finding the best original, scanning prints, sizing, lettering and time.

Read · 12 min

Guides

Custom Cross Stitch Pattern Cost: Free vs $5.99 vs Etsy

What a custom cross stitch pattern from a photo costs in 2026: free generators, $2.99 to $5.99 per pattern, subscriptions, kits and Etsy commissions.

Read · 12 min

Technique

How Many Colors Should a Photo Pattern Use?

How many colors for a cross stitch pattern? The trade-off between detail, confetti, skeins and time, with starting points by subject and finished size.

Read · 9 min

Guides

Cross Stitching a Pet Portrait From a Photo

Choosing the photo, getting the eyes right, handling fur and backgrounds, sizing the chart, and how long a pet portrait cross stitch really takes.

Read · 13 min

Guides

Work Out Your Fabric Size Before You Cut

How to calculate cross stitch fabric size: the formula, worked examples on 11, 14, 16 and 18 count, and the margins to add before you cut.

Read · 9 min

Guides

Using Photos for Cross Stitch: the Copyright Rules

Plain-English general information on cross stitch copyright: your photo versus someone else's, characters and artworks, and what changes if you sell.

Read · 12 min

Technique

Confetti Stitches: Why They Happen and How to Cut Them

What causes the scattered single stitches in photo cross stitch patterns, how to cut them before you convert, and how to stitch the ones that remain.

Read · 13 min

Technique

Stitching a Black Dog or Cat Without a Silhouette

Black fur defeats most converters. How to photograph a black pet, and how to build depth with several near-blacks instead of one flat black.

Read · 13 min

Guides

How to Turn a Photo Into a Cross Stitch Pattern

Learn how to turn a photo into a cross stitch pattern step by step: pick the photo, choose size and fabric, set colors, and read your DMC thread color key.

Read · 9 min

Beginners

How to Read a Cross Stitch Pattern: Symbols, Keys and Grids

How to read a cross stitch pattern: symbols, the color key, 10×10 grid lines, backstitch, fractional stitches, and how to find the center of your chart.

Read · 9 min

Supplies

How Much Embroidery Floss Do I Need for Cross Stitch?

How much floss for cross stitch: skein length, the thread-per-stitch budget our generator uses, tables by fabric count and worked skein examples.

Read · 8 min

Beginners

Cross Stitch for Beginners: Supplies and First Stitches

Cross stitch for beginners: the supplies you need, how to start without knots, how to make neat first stitches, and how to wash and finish your piece.

Read · 10 min

Guides