Cross stitch · pattern maker guide

Cross stitch pattern maker: turn a photo or drawing into a chart

A cross stitch pattern maker turns a picture into a grid chart where each square is one cross stitch and each symbol is one floss colour. You choose the finished size and fabric count, the maker matches the picture to floss colours, and you tidy the chart and add a key before you stitch.

How to make a cross stitch pattern, step by step

Choose the size first. Decide the finished size and the fabric count, then multiply: a 7 in wide design on 14-count Aida is 7 x 14 = 98 stitches wide.
Simplify the picture. Crop tight, raise the contrast and pick a limited palette. Fewer colours make a cleaner chart that is easier to stitch.
Grid it. Each square of the grid is one full cross stitch. On graph paper or in a chart editor, fill each square with the closest floss colour.
Give every colour a symbol and a floss number. The key lists each symbol with its DMC (or Anchor) number, the strands to use and how many skeins you need.
Mark the centre and every 10 squares. Arrows on the edges point to the centre, and bold lines every 10 stitches make counting easy.
Add backstitch last. Outlines and small details go on top of the crosses, usually in one strand.

How big will it be? Finished size by fabric count

Finished size = stitches ÷ fabric count. On evenweave or linen stitched over two threads, use half the count (28-count over two stitches like 14-count Aida).

Design (stitches)	11-count	14-count	16-count	18-count
50 x 50	4.5 x 4.5 in	3.6 x 3.6 in	3.1 x 3.1 in	2.8 x 2.8 in
80 x 100	7.3 x 9.1 in	5.7 x 7.1 in	5 x 6.3 in	4.4 x 5.6 in
100 x 100	9.1 x 9.1 in	7.1 x 7.1 in	6.3 x 6.3 in	5.6 x 5.6 in
150 x 200	13.6 x 18.2 in	10.7 x 14.3 in	9.4 x 12.5 in	8.3 x 11.1 in
200 x 250	18.2 x 22.7 in	14.3 x 17.9 in	12.5 x 15.6 in	11.1 x 13.9 in

Cut the fabric about 3 in (7.5 cm) bigger than the design on every side, so there's room for the hoop and for framing.

Pattern makers you can use

Tool	What it does	Good for
FlossCross	A free online cross stitch pattern maker that needs no registration. It imports a photo or starts from an empty canvas, and previews stitches with images of 498 DMC flosses.	Turning a photo into a chart
Stitch Fiddle	An online chart editor for cross stitch, knitting, crochet and other crafts. The free version keeps up to 15 charts with up to 50 colours each; Premium adds picture upload and more.	Drawing your own design on a grid
Graph paper	One square per stitch, coloured pencils for colours, a symbol per colour.	Small motifs, lettering and borders

Tips for a chart that's nice to stitch

Fewer colours, fewer confetti stitches. Photo charts can scatter single stitches of one colour everywhere; merge colours that look alike.
Keep faces and lettering crisp with backstitch rather than more colours.
Check the floss list against what you own; similar shades from another brand change the look.
Only chart what you may use. A photo you took or a drawing you made is yours; characters and other people's art usually aren't.

New to cross stitch?

Read how to cross stitch for beginners, find free cross stitch patterns, or browse all embroidery and cross stitch patterns.

Site and brand names are used only to identify them; Craftuary is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

Stitch your first chart freeThe Heart Vine bookmark is a free 28 x 84 stitch chart on 14-count Aida with three DMC colours and full crosses only, and Embroidery 101 shows the cross stitch itself in a free 3D lesson.

Get the free chart Watch the 3D lesson

Questions

Is there a free cross stitch pattern maker?

Yes. FlossCross is free, needs no registration and can import a photo; Stitch Fiddle has a free version (up to 15 charts) and a paid Premium. Graph paper and coloured pencils work too.

How do I turn a photo into a cross stitch pattern?

Choose the finished size and fabric count, crop the photo, limit it to a small number of floss colours, then let a chart maker grid it. Clean up stray single stitches by hand before you stitch.

How big will my cross stitch be?

Divide the stitches by the fabric count. 100 stitches on 14-count Aida is about 7.1 in; on 18-count it's about 5.6 in. Add about 3 in of fabric on every side for framing.

Does Craftuary make cross stitch charts from photos?

Not yet. Craftuary's Designer writes crochet amigurumi patterns today. For cross stitch we have a free chart (the Heart Vine bookmark) and a free 3D lesson for the stitch itself.