Guide

How Many Cross Stitches Per Skein?

One skein of six-strand floss covers roughly 1,000 to 1,200 full cross stitches on 14-count Aida with two strands. That number moves a lot with your fabric, the number of strands and your own habits, so here are planning ranges for the common counts and a quick way to work out how many skeins to buy.

What's in a skein

A standard DMC six-strand skein (the kind sold for cross stitch in most US craft stores) holds about 8.7 yards (8 meters) of thread made of six thin strands. You cut a working length, usually around 18 inches, and separate out the strands you need. With two strands, each 18-inch length of six strands gives you three working threads, so one skein gives you roughly 50 two-strand lengths to stitch with.

Stitches per skein: planning estimates

These are full cross stitches with two strands. They are rough ranges, not guarantees.

Evenweave and linen are usually stitched "over two" threads, so 28-count over two behaves much like 14-count Aida, and 32-count over two much like 16-count.

What changes the number

• Fabric count. Lower counts mean bigger squares, and bigger stitches use more thread. A skein covers fewer stitches on 11-count than on 18-count.
• Strands. Three strands uses half as much thread again as two, so expect roughly two-thirds of the stitches. One strand (common for fine work on 18-count or linen) goes much further.
• Confetti. Lots of scattered single stitches mean lots of starts, stops and tails, which eat floss. Big blocks of one color are the most efficient.
• Travelling on the back. Carrying thread across gaps uses extra length that never shows on the front.
• Your tension and tails. Everyone stitches a little differently. Generous tails and loose stitches use more.
• Half stitches and backstitch. A half stitch uses about half the thread of a full cross. Backstitch is counted separately and usually needs much less.

How many skeins should I buy?

1. Find the stitch count for each color in your pattern key. (Our pattern maker lists it for every color.)
2. Divide by the low end of the range for your fabric and strands.
3. Round up to a whole skein.
4. For colors that fill a big area, such as a background or sky, buy one extra and buy them all together so they come from the same dye lot.

Example: 2,600 stitches of one color on 14-count with two strands. 2,600 ÷ 1,000 = 2.6, so buy 3 skeins (4 if it's a big background).

Skeins are inexpensive compared with the hours you'll spend stitching, and running out of one color near the end is a real nuisance. When in doubt, round up.

Our floss calculator does this sum for you. It plans with about 1,100 stitches per skein on 14-count with two strands and adjusts for your fabric count and strands.

How many stitches are in a square inch?

Square the fabric count. That gives you the number of full stitches in one fully stitched square inch:

So on 14-count, one skein covers somewhere around 5 to 6 square inches of solid stitching with two strands. Use the size calculator to turn a stitch count into inches.

How many strands for each count?

A common starting point: 2 or 3 strands on 11-count, 2 strands on 14 and 16-count, and 1 or 2 strands on 18-count. Your pattern may say otherwise, and it's always worth stitching a few test crosses in a corner to see what covers the fabric nicely. The Aida count guide and the DMC thread guide go into more detail.

Make your own estimate

For a figure that matches your own stitching, stitch one full 18-inch two-strand length on your fabric and count the stitches you got. Multiply by about 50 (the number of two-strand lengths in a skein) and you'll have a personal stitches-per-skein number to plan with.

Quick answers

• A standard DMC skein is about 8.7 yards (8 m) of six-strand cotton.
• On 14-count with two strands, plan for roughly 1,000–1,200 stitches per skein.
• Higher count or fewer strands: more stitches per skein. Lower count or more strands: fewer.
• Divide, round up, and buy a spare for big areas.