Handwork

How to start a cross stitch
It is best to centre the cross stitch design by starting in the middle so that your stitching fits onto the piece of fabric without going off to one side. An easy way to do this is to lightly fold the fabric in four to find the centre point. This point should coincide with the centre of the chart, which is normally marked with arrows at the top, bottom and sides. The centre of the design is normally the best place to start stitching.
Most stranded cotton threads (floss) are made up of six strands. Seperate these out into the correct number of strands (as indicated on the chart instructions) for stitching. The colour key shows which shade of cotton to use for each symbol on the chart.
 
Start Stitching
To begin the cross stitch, thread your needle and bring it up through the fabric, leaving a short end of cotton at the back, and work over this with your first few stitches to secure it. When there are enough stitches in place you can start off a new colour by first running it through the back of the existing stitches. To finish a colour, run your cotton under several stitches at the back to secure it.