Why I Don’t Start My Cross Stitch Patterns In The Middle
One of the most frequent questions that I get is why I don’t start my cross stitch patterns in the middle. Doesn’t everyone else say this is how you start? Why do I deliberately do things different?
The answer is that it works for me. Just like everything in cross stitch – if you enjoy what you’re doing and the finished project looks like it’s supposed to and you’re happy with it – do what works for you!
Why Do Patterns Recommend Starting In The Center?
The obvious answer to this is that the pattern makers do not want you to run out of fabric. There’s nothing worse than starting a pattern off incorrectly and, after hours or hundreds of hours of work, finding that you counted your stitching wrong and you’re running off the end of your fabric.
Basically, they are trying to save us from our poor math skills. I’ll be honest, I’ve started one project in the upper left corner of the fabric and (because I’m not that great at math) had to restart the same project three times. The fourth time I made a mistake I simply abandoned the project.
Why Do I Start In The Upper Left Corner Of A Pattern?
I stitch my patterns like I read a book. I start in the upper left with page 1 and then work my way across the top row of pages.
Much of the reason why I do this is to prevent mistakes I know I will make when stitching. If I start in a middle page of the pattern, I will pick up the wrong page at some point and start stitching it in the wrong area.
This can be prevented by following the page guide that many cross stitch pattern makers include in their projects (but not all do). Let’s look at what one of those pages:
The above photo is of one of my Cross Stitch Collectibles projects. It helps the most when you are moving to a new row. However, it can help you stay organized as you go while stitching.
Another way of showing how the pages of a pattern fit together is the below pic:
If you have a cross stitch pattern that’s more than a few pages, a good designer will lay out exactly how the pages fit together.
How Do I Prevent Mistakes Using This Method?
Easy. I have someone else measure and cut my fabric so I don’t mess it up. I have a great local needlework shop here in Denver that does a great job. I simply tell them what size fabric I want (14 ct, 18 ct, etc) and then what the stitch count is: 150 x 300 (for example).
They use a fabric calculator they’ve downloaded onto their phones to know exactly how much fabric to cut and serge. They’re cutting fabric all day long. They are the experts and the peace of mind I get from knowing that the fabric is perfectly cut far outweighs the added cost of having someone else do this work for me.
Why You Should Start In The Upper Left Corner For Full Coverage Cross Stitch Patterns
Just like a traditional full cross stitch starts on the left and goes to the right, that’s how I recommend stitching full coverage cross stitch projects. Granted, I don’t recommend starting on the bottom left of the project.
Once I stitch the first page of any project, then when I begin the next page (whether it’s the next one over or under) the stitches always start right up against another page. I like the way it fills in the pattern.
Conclusion
There’s nothing cooler than seeing a full coverage pattern come to life one page at a time. Starting a project in the upper left of your fabric will ensure a smooth transition from page to page and prevent mistakes that could cost you untold hours of work.
