Cross Stitch Faster by Gridding Your Fabric | Cross Stitch for Beginners | Flosstube

Learn what gridding is for cross stitch and how it can help you cross stitch faster and avoid making miscounting mistakes. This is an especially helpful tip for big projects. There are 2 ways to grid your fabric: writing with a water erasable pen, and weaving with a guide wire (it's basically a thin fishing line). This video shows you how to grid easily with both techniques.

💙 TIME STAMPS
0:00 Begin Video
0:21 What is Gridding
0:40 How Gridding Helps with Counted Cross Stitch
1:03 How to Grid for Cross Stitch
1:24 Use a Water Erasable Pen
1:50 How to Grid with a Water Soluble Pen
2:59 Removing the Water Erasable Ink
3:23 How to Grid with a Nylon Wire
3:44 Using Easy Count Guideline
6:05 This trick helps remove the wire even faster
8:40 Variations on weaving the nylon wire
9:41 Removing the nylon wire
11:10 Purchase pre-gridded Fabric
11:33 What do you prefer to use to grid your fabric?

💙 LEARN MORE ABOUT GRIDDING

💙 DISCLAIMER
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#crossstitch #flosstube #gridding

[lisashyman]

Have been counting my Aida for years and found about about gridding during covid lockdown. It’s not cheating it’s just less stressful than unpicking rows because of 1 stitch error. Love the wire idea as I was petrified washing my brightly coloured threads. Thanks. Going to try this.

[danizig]

I wish I had known about this 20 years ago. I saw a video where people were just working square by square using every color, I wouldn't be able to remember which color was which. But putting a grid on the fabric is a fantastic idea. And now that I know they have pre-printed fabric I will be replacing all of mine.

[debbiemcbride]

You really can teach an old dog new tricks. I have crossed stitched for 40 years. This past week my daughter and 8 month old Grandson came to visit for a few days. She was starting a new cross stitch project and had grids on the fabric. I found this very interesting. I pulled out a project I started 10 years ago and thought I would try to grid the cloth. I used a pen and made a couple of mistakes (cloth is now drying after I rinsed it in water.) Your video looked so easy I ordered the Easy Count Guideline Wire and it should be here 1-2 days; which should give my project time to finish drying and ready for the wire method, thanks to your video. My daughter also taught me to turn the pattern into a PDF file; now I can enlarge it enough to see the pattern symbols in the square.

[barrachuta]

Thank you for the helpful video! I'm about to try gridding for the first time

[genevievefiot]

Absolutely fantastic tutorial. Great explanations and I love you showed the removal of the thread. I have cross stitched for many years and never tried either but perhaps I will now.

[annebartells]

I have never heard of this and all I could think of how much easier a project would be. I stumbled on your video in the nic of time. I just ordered a pattern online that is going to be the most challenging project I have ever tackled. I am so excited to stitch it as well as intimidated at the same time. I am definitely going to grid with this project. It will really help from making those counting mistakes. Thanks for posting. I just subscribed

[catwald]

Thanks for making gridding seem less scary!

[DoraG]

I gridded a pattern for the first time at the start of the year except I had never seen a proper tutorial about it so I used embroidery floss, which got caught in my stitches so removing it was nearly impossible 😭 I was wondering how people managed to avoid it - turns out it was wire! Glad I’ve seen this video now so I know what went wrong and I can do better next time ❤️❤️❤️

[luiscasimi]

Wow - never heard of gridding before. It would have saved me a lot of time (and a few mistakes I had to rip out) in my last project! Thanks for all your tips!!

[mommadragon]

I just started cross stitch a month ago... and gridding is DEFINITELY what I am going to do now!! Thank you!!!!

[itzmeigh]

Great video! I could tell you made a conscious effort to avoid vocal ticks (umm, and, like, so, tisk...) your effort paid off and it was a wonderful informative video! Good job! I’ll be adding it to my collection for when people ask me “how to grid”.

I grid using fishing line or Sulky Sliver. I use a 8 up 2 down method. I like to stitch in my border first to use as a guide.

[ROCKaholic]

I can't believe I never thought before to grid the fabric. Definitely would save a lot of time. Thanks for the tip!

[sarahjohnson]

I've never heard of gridding before but will definitely try it in the future. I have marked the center point and lines at the edges to help me get started. I was taught to find the center then count over and up to find the corner start. For fine aida that may be too small for a water soluble marker, use what I use, a fine lead mechanical pencil. The lead is light enough to not show under stitches and can be washed out later if you like.

[AlfieSyd]

I should really start doing this....I eyeball everything and hope for the best

[meredithebrown]

After a very disastrous stitch gone wrong, I'm very glad of this video-Thanks

[victoriareynolds]

I'm beginning a complicated project on a fine dark colored linen over 2 threads rather than Aida cloth and I already miscounted my stitches once and had to pull out all the work I had already completed to start over. I'd heard of gridding, but had never tried it. Because the pattern is complicated and includes bead work, I bought the wire. As you pointed out, drawing the grid lines likely won't work on the fabric in this case because the weave is so fine. Thank you for the tips on wire gridding. Probably won't be as fast as the Aida cloth because I'll have to count out the 2 threads for each stitch, but, I believe good prep work makes for a better finished project. Thank you for the easy tutorial on how to grid!

[AJ-nyox]

I just did this with my current project which is only my second (a picture I turned into a pattern) and it has helped minimize my mistakes by a LONG SHOT! I'm never counting without gridding from now on!

[elyyoung]

Thank you for this new info. I have done counted cross stitch for years. This was all new to me & I love it! I’ll probably try both methods to find my niche.

[franzrogar]

1:23 Or a heat erasable ballpoint pen (for example Frixion by Pilot). Of course, you wouldn't use the rubber part to make "heat" by friction (rubbing it against the cloth). Just use a hot-gun or hair dryer or an iron and apply the heat, thus saving you from the "water".

[sideways]

I use only wettable threads, because I like to wash my needlework at completion. For me gridding with the water markers is the best. You can get them in different colors too, so if you want to have a 10 space grid in one color, then mark the middle of each of those (giving a 5 space grid) with a different color.