What is Aida Cloth?

Aida cloth is an even weave fabric that comes in different sizes of weave. It is mainly used for cross stitch projects, but is also used in other hand embroidery projects. The sizes of the cloth range from 7-22 count. That means 7-22 squares per square inch. The most popular sizes are 14, 16 and 18 count. The larger the number, the smaller the holes and the smaller the finished stitch size.

16 Count Up Close View

Aida cloth comes in many different colors. You can buy it in smaller pieces, or in larger pieces off of a bolt. For cloth off a bolt, you have to go to a specialty needlepoint store. The smaller pieces can usually be purchased at any craft store.

When choosing the background fabric for your project, you want to look at a few different things:

The size of the finished project.




The finished size will change depending on what the Aida cloth count is. Something that would be 4" X 4" on 11 count could end up only 2" X 2" on 18 count. Sometimes the desired finished project size is what will determine the cloth count.

I have a picture that I really want to turn into a cross stitch project. I ran it through my cross stitch pattern creating software. My favorite size cloth to work on is 16 count. After figuring out how many different floss colors it would take to get all the detail I wanted in it, I told the software to create a pattern. My project came out with about a 38" X 38" completely stitched area!! That’s over 3 feet square!! (Talk about a life project!!) In order to get that cross stitch pattern to a more reasonable size (about 18" X 18"), I would need to do it on 22 count cloth.

The colors of the actual project.




If you choose a background color that is similar to most of your stitches, you will not be able to see them as well. Dark stitches with a dark background will not stand out. Same with light stitches on a light background. Your stitches will fade into the background and not be as noticeable. Make sure you choose a background color that compliments your stitches and makes them stand out.

(Lighter backgrounds for dark stitches and darker backgrounds for light stitches. Sometimes the background color is actually used as part of the design. Such as stitching something on light blue and then leaving portions blank to become the sky.)

You’re going to put hours, if not days and months, of work into your project. You want it to look great when you’re finished!

Floss amounts needed.




The amount of embroidery floss needed to complete your work is not as important as the size and stitch colors, but some of us are on a budget. (We don’t want to buy tons more than we need, but we definitely want to buy enough to finish the project!!)

The larger the squares of Aida cloth, the more floss needed to cover them. When working with 16 count or less, I usually use 3 strands of floss. (Something as large as 7 or 10 count, you have to use all 6 strands to get the same coverage.) With 18 count you can use either 2 or 3 strands. You will get a very full look with 3 strands and the stitches will bulk up a little bit, but still look ok. With 20 or 22 count, you only use 2 strands of floss. 3 strands would make your work look too bulky and messy. (Back stitching usually uses 1 or 2 strands of floss, sometimes even more, depending on how dense you want your lines to be.)

Other misc. considerations.




Sometimes your background choice has nothing do with anything other than availability. If you can’t get the color you want, you go with what you have, or can find. Some of my backgrounds are picked like this.

I have thousands of patterns and quite a few different smaller pieces of Aida cloth. When I decide I want to cross stitch at 3:00 in the morning, I can’t exactly run to my local craft store for supplies!! (And yes, this does happen!) Most of my scrap pieces are of neutral or basic colors, for this reason. I buy a lot of whites, off-whites, creams, tans, and blacks. That way, I can usually find something that will work with what I want to do when I get my middle-of-the-night urges!! (I do purchase special sized and colored cloth for special patterns. Those I store together, so I won’t accidentally use the cloth I picked out for that project on something else!!)

Is Aida Cloth the best choice for your project?




The last consideration when choosing your background is whether or not to even use Aida cloth. Linen is also an even weave fabric that is often used for cross stitching. It looks more like fabric, where Aida cloth has definite holes and definite squares. Linen can be purchased in different sizes and colors, as well. The difference is, linen is much smaller. I believe the largest linen count I’ve seen is 18 count. Usually linen is 20-24 count. (Although I do think you can get it even smaller than that. Remember, the larger the number, the smaller the squares!)

With linen, you count for every stitch. Warp threads run up and down your fabric, and weft threads run back and forth. Usually to cross stitch on linen, the standard count is 2 over 2. That means you count over 2 warp threads and up or down 2 weft threads. For greater detail and smaller stitches, some linen designs will have you do a 1 over 1 count in small areas, like on a face. This will give you a greater amount of detail in a small space.

You can choose whatever count you would like for linen, just make sure you maintain the same count throughout the entire project. Otherwise, you will get a messy looking finished product.

My friend does a lot of her cross stitch projects on linen. She really enjoys working with it. Her linen projects do turn out beautifully. It is just not possible to get the same look and detail when using Aida cloth. Me, I think I’ll stick to my Aida cloth. I really like the guide holes. I don’t like the idea of having to count while placing each stitch, in addition to having to count threads to create each stitch!!

Go to Cross Stitch Basics or Go to Hand Embroidery Stitches

Waste Canvas

The final type of Aida Cloth I use is called waste canvas. It is used to put cross stitch designs onto regular non-even weave fabrics. I’ve used it to put designs onto T-shirts and sweatshirts. You attach this waste canvas to your project with either pins, safety pins or a basting stitch. Any way you can so that the canvas will not move and is very secure. Then you cross stitch your project using the waste canvas guide holes. Once you have completed all your stitching, you simply start pulling out the waste canvas from beneath your work. Strand by strand. (It can be a little tricky to get out, sometimes. Some strands will come out easier than others.) This can be time consuming, but your finished project will be worth it. You are able to get a very even cross stitch design onto an uneven weave fabric! Nice and Neat!!

There are so many different projects using Aida cloth available out there. You can get towels with a strip of Aida cloth worked right into the design of the towel. There are blankets where big sections mimic Aida cloth. Mug and cup inserts, book marks, baby bibs.....the list just goes on and on!!

Try out a few of the different options available. I’m sure you’ll find you’ll be collecting all the different types just like I do!!

Did You Know?

You can actually set some embroidery machines to work with Aida cloth? If your machine has cross stitch capabilities, you can calibrate it so that you can machine embroider cross stitch! How cool is that?

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