Cross Stitch Skein Calculator
Enter how many stitches a color has, your fabric and the number of strands, and see how many skeins of six-strand floss to buy. Add backstitch if the color is also used for outlines.
Fabric
Aida
Evenweave or linen, over 2
Strands
Result
Buy 1 skein
Estimated use: 0.70 skeins (5.6 m of six-strand floss)
One skein covers about 1,437 full crosses at this count and strand number.
Let the pattern maker count the stitches
The pattern maker counts the stitches of every color for you and lists them in the thread key of the PDF, ready to use with this calculator.
Start a patternHow the estimate works
A standard skein of six-strand floss is 8 m long. Split into single strands that is 48 m of thread, so at 2 strands one skein gives 24 m of needle-loads.
- A full cross stitch uses about 8 times the width of a square in thread: the two legs plus the travel on the back.
- Backstitch uses about 1.3 times its length.
- 15% is added for starting and finishing threads.
- The result is rounded up to whole skeins.
Worked example
1,000 full crosses on 14 count Aida with 2 strands: a square is 25.4 / 14 = 1.81 mm, so the crosses need 1,000 x 8 x 1.81 mm = 14.5 m of thread, or 16.7 m with 15% extra. One skein gives 24 m at 2 strands, so that is 0.70 of a skein: buy 1.
Why your real use may differ
Tension, how you travel between stitches, scattered single stitches and how long you cut your threads all change how much you use. Treat the result as a buying guide, and buy an extra skein for large areas of one color so you do not run short in a different dye lot.
Full cross stitches per skein
One 8 m six-strand skein, 15% extra for starting and finishing threads.
| Fabric | 1 strand | 2 strands | 3 strands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aida 11 | 2,259 | 1,129 | 753 |
| Aida 14 | 2,875 | 1,437 | 958 |
| Aida 16 | 3,286 | 1,643 | 1,095 |
| Aida 18 | 3,697 | 1,848 | 1,232 |
| Aida 22 | 4,519 | 2,259 | 1,506 |
| 28 count over 2 | 2,875 | 1,437 | 958 |
| 32 count over 2 | 3,286 | 1,643 | 1,095 |
Frequently asked questions
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