alt="Images"/>
Cross stitch sampler chart
How to Stitch the Cross Stitch Sampler
This charming and unusual cross stitch sampler has all the elements of a traditional design and will show off your skills to perfection.
You will need
12 x 15 in (31 x 38 cm) white 14-count Aida fabric
Embroidery hoop or frame
DMC stranded embroidery floss, 1 skein of each of the following colors:
Grass green (701)
Dark blue (796)
Sky blue (798)
Pale blue (809)
Mid-blue (825)
Purple (208)
Coral (351)
Lime green (470)
Mauve (554)
Pale pink (604)
Orange (741)
Yellow (743)
Deep pink (3687)
Tapestry needle
Two pieces of ¼ in (5 mm) diameter dowel, 12½ in (32 cm) long
20 in (50 cm) length of ½ in (13 mm) wide pink gingham ribbon
20 in (50 cm) length of ¼ in (5 mm) wide yellow ribbon
Preparing the fabric and threads
1 Bind the edges and find the center of the fabric (page). Mark the center of the chart with a pen. Mount the fabric in the hoop or frame.
Stitching the center panel
1 Using two strands of the grass green embroidery floss, first work the Assisi leaf panel in the center of the sampler.
2 Then use the four shades of the blue embroidery floss, with two strands each, to work the letters of the alphabet immediately above and below the Assisi panel.
3 Again using two strands of the appropriate colors, add the two narrow borders that separate the rows of letters.
4 Finally work the top and bottom rows of the alphabet.
Stitching the border
1 Using two strands of the coral thread, work the narrow alternating cross stitch border that frames the center panel.
2 Now add the border motifs in two strands of the appropriate colors, following the chart and key. Add back stitch with one strand of deep pink around the outlines of the small pale pink hearts in the top left corner.
3 Complete the stitching by working another alternating cross stitch border in two strands of coral thread.
Mounting the sampler
1 Place the sampler right side down on a clean towel, which will prevent the stitches from being flattened, and carefully press it on the wrong side.
2 Fold back the side edges eight squares outside the borders. Trim if necessary to make a double hem and slipstitch in place on the wrong side, along the border line of cross stitch.
3 Make casings for the dowels by turning back the top and bottom edges eighteen squares above and below the top and bottom borders. Turn under a hem, trimming if necessary and slipstitch in place along the border line of cross stitch on the wrong side.
4 Thread the dowels through the casings and hang with the ribbons.
Key
Blackwork
A distinctive form of counted thread embroidery, blackwork was probably of Moorish origin and became popular in England during Tudor times due to the influence of Katharine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s Spanish wife. As its name suggests, it is traditionally worked in black thread and can be embellished with touches of metallic thread. Geometric patterns are built up by repeating stitch
