Craft Academy · Cross stitch basics

Learn to cross stitch by making five small things

Each lesson is one piece you can finish in an evening and give away. You watch the needle, try the stitch on screen, read the chart, design the piece and track every stitch as you make it for real. Free, and no account needed.

Start lesson 1: Heart bookmark

Never stitched? Start here

This is everything the five lessons use.

14-count Aida, 20 x 30 cm, white or cream about €3
Tapestry needle, size 24, blunt tip about €1
Stranded cotton, 4 colours, DMC or similar about €4
Hoop, 10 cm, and small scissors about €3

Whole pathabout €11

Cheap supplies are fine. You stitch with 2 of the 6 strands in each thread, so one skein lasts for many pieces.

The path

1 Heart bookmark The full cross stitch, a row there and back, and reading a chart. In KnytStudio: fill and replace a colour. Start
2 Leaf card Half stitches and starting a thread without a knot. In KnytStudio: the half-stitch tool. Coming soon
3 Name tag Backstitch outlines. In KnytStudio: backstitch line mode. Coming soon
4 Flower coaster Changing colours and parking threads. In KnytStudio: confetti cleanup. Coming soon
5 Your own keyring Design it yourself; only the rules are checked. In KnytStudio: export and the tracker. Coming soon

Animated, not filmed: every demo is drawn from the lesson pattern, seen from above the way you see your own hoop.