Correct reading of instructions guarantees a successful start in embroidery.

Probably, everyone has dreamed of how fun it would be to learn how to embroider: metrics, decoration, postcard, tab, cushion, painting or even put on clothes. This is not difficult if you follow these recommendations.

Each cross embroidery begins with reading the selected picture and embroidery instruction. Instructions usually consist of:

ï  Diagram that shows what stitch, where and what color should be embroidered.

ï Legend that shows what density and type of fabric, how much and what threads will be needed and what stitches will be used in embroidery.

ï Short descriptions of stitches to help you learn how to embroider them.

How to read the scheme?

The diagram grid corresponds to the fabric you are using – the intersections of the filaments indicate the places of embroidery of the crosses. Usually, aida fabric is embroidered through 1 thread, Evenweave and Linas (Linen) fabric through 2 threads. Displays the center of the border of the scheme at the edges of the black arrow scheme. This can be useful when preparing the fabric for embroidery – how many cells need to be counted from both the scheme and the border centers. For the convenience of tailors, schemes are usually marked every 10 cells with brighter lines. This makes it easier to count crosses and orient and not get lost in the scheme. The symbols in the schema boxes refer to a stitch (full cross, half cross, French knot, etc.) used to suggest color and thread count.

How to read a legend?

Although each author of the scheme and the manufacturer of the collections has a peculiar style of representation of the scheme and legend, the structure of the instructions remains similar. Reading a legend is pretty simple. The main thing is to know the main markings of the legend.

Instruction symbols

ïÄSymbol / Символ –a symbol indicating the stitch in the scheme by an agreed mark. It can be a colored square, a colored square with a symbol, a black-and-white square with a symbol, or a color symbol. You can also find these symbols in the thread organizer (not in all collections).

ï No of thread / Номер нитки на планке – suggests a number indicates a specific thread on the organizer if a set is embroidered.

ï Quantity of strands / Количество ниток – the quantity of yarn indicating how many filaments to use in embroidery stitching.

ï Type of cross stitch / Вид стежка – a type of cross indicating what the stitch will be embroidered (full cross, half cross, edging, French nodules, etc.).

ï Blend / Бленд – a blend when embroidered with 2 threads of different colors.

Names of stitches.

ï Cross stitch / Крест / Полный крест – classic full cross embroidered in all sets and schemes.

ï Half cross stitch / - half cross, half of a classic cross embroidered to produce shadow, volume or contrast. 

ï BackStitch / Бэкстич – edgings, usually denoted by a line both in legend and in the scheme. This stitch is used to extract the contour.

ï French knots / Французские узелки – French knots, usually marked with full falls, are used to produce a snow effect or volume.

When embroidering author schemes, at the top of them additionally presented the author, the size of the scheme in crosses, the type and density of the fabric and the manufacturer of the yarn. It is this part of the instruction that will allow you to correctly choose means for embroidery.