Free tool
Cross stitch floss calculator
Enter the number of stitches for each color to see how much floss you need and how many skeins to buy. Estimates use standard six-strand skeins of 8 m (8.7 yd), the size DMC, Anchor and Cosmo sell. You can also pick 5 yd skeins for hand-dyed floss.
Usual on 14ct aida: 2
2 skeins · 10.3 m (11.3 yd) of floss
Skeins to buy
2 skeins
10.3 m (11.3 yd) of six-strand floss in total. At these settings one skein covers about 1,550 stitches.
These are estimates. Your tension, how you start and finish each thread, and how far you carry thread across the back all change how much floss you use, and scattered single stitches use more than solid blocks of color. Many stitchers buy one extra skein of the main colors.
Many chart keys list the stitch count for each color. If you design your own charts, the Craft Studio editor counts the stitches for every color in your palette, so you can copy the numbers straight in. Try it free.
Frequently asked
- How many cross stitches does one skein of floss cover?
- A standard skein is 8 meters (8.7 yards) of six-strand floss. Stitched with 2 strands on 14ct aida, it covers about 1,550 full cross stitches once tails and thread carried across the back are allowed for. Published rules of thumb put it between 1,500 and 1,800. With 3 strands on 11ct it is about 800 stitches, and with 1 strand on 18ct about 4,000. Hand-dyed floss from The Gentle Art or Weeks Dye Works comes in 5 yard skeins, so pick that skein size for those.
- How does the calculator work out how much floss I need?
- Worked in rows, a full cross stitch puts two diagonals on the front and two short stitches on the back, which comes to about 4.8 times the width of the stitch for each strand. Working one cross at a time puts a diagonal on the back and uses a little more. The calculator multiplies that by the number of strands, adds half again for thread carried between stitches and through the fabric, and sets aside 15% of every length for the tails you start and finish with. The total is divided by the 8 m skein and rounded up to whole skeins for each color.
- How many strands of floss should I use for cross stitch?
- Two strands is the usual choice on 14ct and 16ct aida, and on 28ct or 32ct evenweave stitched over two. 11ct usually takes 3 strands, and 18ct takes 1 or 2. Floss use goes up in step with the number of strands, so 3 strands uses half as much again as 2.
- Does half stitch use less floss than full cross stitch?
- Yes. A half stitch is one diagonal instead of two, with short straight stitches on the back, so it uses about half the floss of a full cross: around 3,100 stitches per skein with 2 strands on 14ct. Continental and basketweave tent stitch also have one diagonal on the front but longer stitches on the back, so they use about 70 to 75% as much as a full cross.