How many skeins of floss do I need?

Enter how many stitches each color has (most patterns list this in the key), pick your fabric, and you'll get the number of skeins to buy.

How it works

One cross stitch uses two diagonals on the front and two short legs on the back, about 4.8 times the width of the square, for every strand. A skein is 8 metres of six strands, so it holds 48 metres of single strand.

The calculator adds 40% for starting and ending threads and carrying them across the back, then rounds each color up to whole skeins. On 14-count Aida with two strands, one skein covers roughly 1,950 full stitches.

Buy one extra skein of any color with a lot of stitches. Dye lots vary a little, and running out halfway through a sky is the worst kind of surprise.

Questions

Why do bigger counts use less floss? The squares are smaller, so each stitch needs less thread.

How many strands should I use? Two on 14 to 18-count Aida, three on 11-count, and one on 22-count Hardanger. Evenweave and linen over two stitch like the matching Aida.

Does this work for Anchor floss? Yes. Anchor skeins are the same length as DMC. Need the Anchor numbers? Use the DMC to Anchor converter.

Make a pattern from a photo, free

Skeinshot works out the skeins for every color in your pattern and builds a shopping list that skips the threads you already own.