How many skeins of floss do you need for a cross-stitch project?
Running out of thread halfway through a sky is every stitcher’s nightmare: a new dye lot can be very slightly different. Here’s how to estimate the number of skeins before you buy.
What’s in a skein
A skein of DMC stranded cotton (Mouliné, size 25) is 8 metres long and made of 6 strands you separate. With 2 strands in the needle you get 3 lengths of 8 m, so 24 m of working thread.
In practice, on 14-count Aida with 2 strands, one skein covers about 1,800 cross stitches. That’s an average: an isolated stitch uses more thread (starting and ending) than a large block of one colour.
What changes the maths
| Situation | Stitches per skein (approx.) |
|---|---|
| 11-count Aida, 2 strands | 1,400 |
| 14-count Aida, 2 strands | 1,800 |
| 16-count Aida, 2 strands | 2,050 |
| 18-count Aida, 2 strands | 2,300 |
| 14-count Aida, 3 strands | 1,200 |
| 18-count Aida, 1 strand | 4,600 |
The finer the fabric, the smaller the stitch and the less thread it needs. More strands use more thread.
The method, thread by thread
- In the chart key, note the stitch count of each colour (many charts list it).
- Divide by the stitches per skein for your fabric.
- Add a 15% margin for starting, ending and mistakes, then round up.
Example: 2,500 stitches of DMC 3865 on 14-count Aida with 2 strands → 2,500 × 1.15 / 1,800 = 1.6 → 2 skeins.
The cross-stitch calculator does this for the whole chart or thread by thread, and also gives the finished size and the fabric to cut.
What about backstitch?
Backstitch uses little thread but is hard to count. One skein is almost always enough for the outlines of a medium design; add one more for a large, very detailed piece.
Starting from a photo
If you turn a photo into a chart with Grillo, the DMC thread list comes with the number of skeins already worked out for each colour, based on the size and fabric you choose.
Tip: buy all the skeins of one colour at once, from the same dye lot, especially for large areas like a sky or a background.