Stitches

I have a cross-stitch pattern that is to be stitched on 18 ct aida. Can I stitch it on 14 count instead?

I have yards of 14 ct. white aida. I have some 18 ct. black aida, but I really don't want to use the black; and I would rather not have to buy some white if I don't have to. Would using the 14 ct. ruin the intricacy of it? Should I go ahead and purchase the 18 ct?

Public Comments

1. It really wouldn't make it much bigger. I can't use anything smaller than a 7count and have done some nice things on that size that were patterned for 14 count.
2. Yes, you can, but it will just be larger. So just watch when you cut the piece you need - you can guestimate and measure - so the piece of fabric is large enough. I do this all the time. Fourteen ct. is just so much easier to work with.
3. You can use the same stitching pattern if ending up with a larger version is not a problem. Yes, there will be a loss of detail if you try making it fit the 14 ct.
4. Picture will be smaller, but it will work.
5. Yes you can.
6. As long as the design is bright enough to show up on the fabric, you can use any color, and any stitch size you wish. You may need to use more strands of thread for larger stitch sizes, which of course will increase the amount of thread you need. You can determine the size of fabric you'll need by dividing the number of stitches in each direction by the count of the fabric you want to use. For example..... If your pattern is 100 stitches wide and 75 stitches high, and you want to use 14 count fabric: 100/14=7.14 75/14=5.36 You'll need a piece of fabric 7.14 x 5.36 inches. Don't forget to add an extra couple off inches or so all around to have enough fo hold with a hoop or frame while you're working it. If you work in the metric system, mulitply the answer by 2.5.
7. When changing from 18 ct. to 14 ct. use three strands of thread instead of two, or you will have bare spots top, sides, and bottom of each square. One strand for backstitch will still work okay. It will be fine if you do that. For 11ct. use four, five, or six strands. As far as how much fabric you will need, just adjust accordingly.
8. First of all, you don't ever HAVE to stitch on the same count of fabric as the model! Just keep in mind that if you use 14 ct, instead of 18 ct, the finished design will be larger (14 stitches per inch instead of 18). Conversely, if you used 22 ct, it will be smaller. Using 14 ct instead of 18 may lose some of the fine detail, especially up close, but from a few feet away, it will look fine. I've seen Mirabilias done on 8 ct (using all 6 strands of floss) and the lady is almost life-size. Up close, it doesn't look as good but if you're standing 10 ft away, it's impressive. Go with what you're comfortable with but just make sure you cut a piece of fabric big enough. Someone else here has already given the basic formula for figuring the design size but you want to add 6 inches to both the length and width sizes to give you enough margin for framing.