How Much Aida Do You Need? A Fabric Size Guide
Buying fabric is the point where a lot of projects go quietly wrong. Too small and the design will not fit. Slightly too small and it fits but cannot be framed. The arithmetic is simple once you have seen it, and it is worth doing before you are standing in a shop guessing.
The one calculation you need
Fabric count is the number of stitches per inch. On 14 count aida you get 14 stitches to the inch, on 16 count you get 16, and so on.
So:
Finished size in inches = stitch count ÷ fabric count
A design 140 stitches wide on 14 count aida is 140 ÷ 14 = 10 inches wide. The same design on 18 count is 140 ÷ 18 = 7.8 inches. Same chart, same number of stitches, quite different piece.
For centimetres, multiply the inches by 2.54, or divide the stitch count by the fabric count and multiply by 2.54 in one go.
The same design across common counts
Taking a design of 140 by 180 stitches, which is a fairly typical medium project:
| Fabric count | Finished width | Finished height | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 count aida | 12.7 in / 32.3 cm | 16.4 in / 41.6 cm | Large stitches, easy on the eyes, good for beginners |
| 14 count aida | 10.0 in / 25.4 cm | 12.9 in / 32.7 cm | The most common choice, widely stocked |
| 16 count aida | 8.8 in / 22.2 cm | 11.3 in / 28.6 cm | Finer detail, still comfortable |
| 18 count aida | 7.8 in / 19.8 cm | 10.0 in / 25.4 cm | Small and detailed, harder in poor light |
| 28 count evenweave over 2 | 10.0 in / 25.4 cm | 12.9 in / 32.7 cm | Same size as 14 count aida, different feel |
That last row surprises people. Evenweave and linen are usually worked over two threads, so a 28 count linen gives you 14 stitches per inch and the same finished size as 14 count aida. Our guide to choosing your fabric covers why you might prefer one over the other, and fabric count explained goes deeper into the numbers.
How much to actually cut
The finished design size is not the fabric size. You need margin, and more than most people expect.
Add 3 inches on every side. So 6 inches to the width and 6 to the height. For the 140 by 180 design on 14 count, that means cutting roughly 16 by 19 inches.
That margin is doing three jobs:
- Framing. A frame needs fabric to wrap around the mounting board, and a lacing or stapling allowance on top of that. Two inches is a bare minimum, three is comfortable.
- Hooping. You need enough spare to get the fabric into a hoop or frame without the design sitting under the edge.
- Fraying. Cut edges fray, and you will lose some to that even if you zigzag or tape them.
If you are working a large piece in a scroll frame, add a little more top and bottom for the rollers.
A worked example
Say a chart is 200 stitches wide and 250 tall, and you want to use 16 count aida.
- Width: 200 ÷ 16 = 12.5 inches
- Height: 250 ÷ 16 = 15.6 inches
- Add 6 inches each way: 18.5 by 21.6 inches
- Round up to a size fabric is actually sold in
That rounding step matters. Fabric comes in fat quarters and standard cut sizes, so buying a size up is usually easier and barely more expensive than trying to buy exactly what you calculated.
Choosing a count to hit a size
Often the constraint runs the other way: you have a frame, or a space on a wall, and you need the design to fit it.
Rearrange the same formula:
Fabric count needed = stitch count ÷ desired size in inches
A 200 stitch wide design that needs to fit an 11 inch aperture needs 200 ÷ 11 = 18.2, so 18 count aida gets you very close. If that feels too fine to stitch comfortably, your options are a bigger frame or a smaller design.
What about thread?
Fabric is the easier of the two estimates. Thread depends on stitch count per colour, how many strands you use, and how much you carry across the back.
As a very rough guide, one skein of stranded cotton covers somewhere around 1,500 to 1,800 full cross stitches on 14 count with two strands. That is a starting point rather than a promise, and buying a second skein of your dominant colours is cheap insurance against a dye lot change halfway through. How many strands to use covers the strand side.
If a chart gives you a length for each colour instead, the sum is simpler. A standard skein of stranded cotton is 8 metres, so divide the length by 8 metres and round up: a colour that needs 9 metres needs two skeins, not one and a bit. HobbyTub works that out for every colour in a project and sets it against your thread stash, so the numbers you take to the shop are only the ones you are short of.
Let the software do it
Any decent pattern tool will show the finished size for the fabric count you have chosen, which removes the arithmetic entirely. In HobbyTub a project carries its own aida count, so the finished size updates as you change it, and each pattern lists its stitch and colour counts before you start.
If you only want the numbers for a chart you already have, the fabric calculator does everything on this page without signing in. Put in the stitch count and the fabric, and it gives you the finished size and the piece to cut, margin included.
You can browse the pattern library to see the size of a design before committing to fabric, or see all the tools if you are making your own chart.