Cross stitch pattern maker: photo to pattern, free

Aida fabric counts, strands and needles

The count is the number of stitches you make in an inch, per DMC, so a higher count gives smaller stitches and a smaller finished piece. DMC recommends 14-count for beginners. Strands and needle sizes below are Stitcher's starting points; let your pattern's own notes win.

Needle sizes for 14, 16 and 18-count also match Lord Libidan's table, which has no 11-count row. DMC quotes 14-count as 5.5 stitches per cm; the column is the count ÷ 2.54.

The finished size formula

Finished width = stitches across ÷ fabric count. Height is the same with the stitches down. Multiply by 2.54 for centimetres. This is the formula Stitcher prints, and it is what the readout above uses.

• 80 × 60 stitches on 14-count: 80 ÷ 14 = 5.7 in by 60 ÷ 14 = 4.3 in, or 14.5 × 10.9 cm.
• Want a set width instead? Multiply: a 6-inch-wide piece on 14-count is 6 × 14 = 84 stitches across. Switch the tool to “finished width” and it does this for you.
• Cut the fabric bigger than the design. Stitcher says leave at least 2 to 3 inches on every side, more to frame it; the tool adds 3 inches each side.

How many strands of floss per count

DMC sells its Mouliné Spécial floss in 8.7-yard (8-metre) skeins of six strands that separate, so you choose how thick each cross is. Coarser cloth has bigger holes and needs more strands to cover: about three on 11-count, two on 14 and 16-count, and one or two on 18-count (one looks delicate, two more solid). Cut a working length, pull the strands out one at a time and put the number you need back together. The strand setting in the tool only changes the skein estimate.

How to read a cross stitch chart

1. One square is one cross stitch. Each square on the chart is one square of Aida, the block between four holes. A blank square is left unstitched.
2. The symbol tells you the colour. Look it up in the key to get the DMC number. Symbols are there so the chart still works printed in black and white; the most-used colour gets the boldest mark.
3. Count in tens. A bold line runs every 10 stitches and the edges are numbered, so you count from the nearest bold line rather than from the edge of the page.
4. Find the centre. The coral arrows on the edges mark the middle row and column. Fold your fabric in quarters to find its middle and start there, and the design lands centred.
5. Follow the pages in order. A big chart is split into pages of 50 × 60 stitches, left to right and then down. Each page says which columns and rows it covers.

How the pattern maker works

1. Shrink to stitches. Your picture is scaled down in your browser to one pixel per stitch, at the grid size the count and width give (up to 300 stitches each way).
2. Reduce the colours. Median cut splits the picture's colours into at most the number you chose (2 to 40) and averages each group.
3. Match to DMC. Each colour is snapped to the closest of 454 DMC floss colours by distance in CIELAB, a colour space built to track how different two colours look (Delta E 1976). Two colours that land on the same floss merge, so you may get fewer than you asked for.
4. Draw the chart. Every stitch takes the nearest of those floss colours. With dithering on, Floyd-Steinberg error diffusion passes each stitch's colour error to its neighbours, which mimics shades you do not have. Fully transparent pixels become blank squares.
5. Estimate the floss. One full cross, worked in a row, uses about two diagonals on the front and two short hops on the back: (2 × √2 + 2) ≈ 4.8 squares of thread per strand. Times the square size (2.54 ÷ count cm), times the strands, plus 25% for tails and travel. A skein holds 6 strands × 8 m = 48 m of single strand. This is our own geometry, not a published figure, and real use varies with how you stitch.

Estimated full crosses per 8 m skein. Half stitches, backstitch and French knots are not counted.

The DMC colours it matches against

454 DMC six-strand floss colours with approximate screen RGB values, from the adrianj/CrossStitchCreator colour list. DMC itself publishes no RGB values and now sells about 500 shades, so newer colours are missing and every match is approximate. The list has known faults, documented by the sharlagelfand/dmc cleaning script: we use its RGB columns, not its hex codes.

What you stitch it with

DMC's own cross stitch toolkit is floss, Aida, a blunt needle with a long eye, a hoop and sharp embroidery scissors (DMC, Explore cross stitch). From our shelves, at today's price:

• Embroidery Hoops · Caydo 6 Embroidery Hoops$5.57★ 4.6 out of 5 stars · 1,253 ratings

  Holds the Aida taut. Six sizes from 3.6 to 10.7 inches, and the pack adds hand needles.

  Buy on Amazon

• Thread · DMC 16-skein floss pack$13.24★ 4.8 out of 5 stars · 378 ratings

  Sixteen skeins of the six-strand DMC floss this chart is keyed to. Buy the exact numbers in the key singly.

  Buy on Amazon

• Hand-Sewing Needles · Dritz 57 Hand Needles, Assorted Styles & Sizes$5.69★ 4.6 out of 5 stars · 672 ratings

  An assorted pack whose listing includes tapestry needles, the blunt kind cross stitch uses.

  Buy on Amazon

• Embroidery Machines · Brother SE700 Sewing and Embroidery Machine$579.99★ 4.5 out of 5 stars · 1,047 ratings

  Only if you would rather a machine did the stitching: it sews its 135 built-in designs and embroidery files sent over wireless or USB, not this chart.

  Buy on Amazon

Researched, not hands-on tested. We may earn a commission; it never changes a pick.

Frequently asked

Sources

Last checked: October 27, 2026 (colour list read October 27, 2026). Every figure on this page that is not arithmetic comes from one of these pages.

• DMC: Aida embroidery fabric (product page)The count is the number of stitches you can make in an inch; the metric equivalent is stitches per centimetre. DMC recommends beginners use 14-count (5.5 per cm), its most popular Aida.
• DMC: Mouliné Spécial six-strand embroidery floss, Ref. 117MC (product page)Sold in 8.7 yard / 8 metre skeins whose six strands separate; available in 500 shades; 100% cotton.
• DMC: Explore cross stitchCross stitch is usually worked on Aida with six-strand floss and a blunt needle with an elongated eye; DMC's starter toolkit adds a hoop and sharp embroidery scissors.
• adrianj/CrossStitchCreator (GitHub): DMC Cotton Floss converted to RGB Values (CSV, 454 colours)The colour list this tool matches against: DMC number, name and an approximate screen RGB for 454 floss colours, laid out by the rows of DMC's colour card. DMC itself publishes no RGB values.
• sharlagelfand/dmc (R package, GitHub): data-raw/floss.R, the cleaning script for the same colour listRe-publishes the adrianj list and documents its faults: six hex codes mangled by a spreadsheet and nine rows where the hex and RGB columns disagree. We use the RGB columns only.
• Stitcher (UK needlecraft retailer): Aida fabric count explained: 14, 16 and 18 for cross stitchFinished width = stitches across ÷ count (× 2.54 for cm); strands and tapestry needle by count as starting points; leave at least 2–3 in of fabric on every side.
• Lord Libidan (cross stitch designer and author): What size cross stitch needle should I use?Needle by Aida count: 14-count size 24, 16-count size 26, 18-count size 28 (agrees with Stitcher). Its table has no 11-count row.