Aida, evenweave & linen explained

So what's the difference between aida and evenweave?

Technically there's no difference, aida is a type of evenweave - meaning that it has the same number of threads in the warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal). Most cross stitch fabrics are evenweaves but there are a small number that are unevenweaves.


Aida is a blockweave, meaning that each square is made a group of threads - you can see that in this picture. Aida is sold in various counts indicating the number of blocks in an inch. The most common counts are 11ct, 14ct, 16ct, and 18ct. The higher the number, the smaller your stitches will be and the smaller your finished design will turn out.

This is 14ct aida in Soft Mocha from Wichelt.

And here's some stitching on aida were you can see how each stitch covers one square on the fabric.

Commonly known as evenweaves are the fabrics that aren't block weaves, the threads are not arranged in groups. Examples of evenweave fabrics are jobelan, lugana, brittney, davosa, murano, monaco. They are available in various counts, most commonly 20ct to 32ct, This denotes the number of threads per inch. Each stitch is usually formed over a grid of two threads square but more about that below.

This is Jobelan Lambswool 28ct from Wichelt.

And finally there is linen, also an evenweave but the difference here is the fibre used to make the fabric. Linen is made from flax, a natural plant fibre, and because of this it will have slubs or flaws in the fabric. Linen comes in various counts from 25ct to 50ct. Stitches are usually made over two threads on linen.

This is 28ct Natural Linen from Wichelt - you can clearly see the slubs in this picture.

Here's some stitching on an evenweave where you can see each stitch covers two threads vertically and two threads horizontally. This is known as stitching over two.  You can see below the arrangement of the threads. Bring your needle up at 1, down at 2, up at 3 and down at 4 to complete the stitch.

3|  |1

_|_|_

2|_|4

The huge advantage to evenweave though is that you can stitch over one thread to make tiny stitches (sometimes known as petit point). The alphabet below is stitched over one thread.

How to tell if a chart is an illegal copy or breach of copyright

1. Scans from magazines are almost always a no-no. It is safest to assume the worst. You can usually see if it's a scan from a magazine by the typeface, quality of type, page numbers, columns and adverts alongside patterns.   2. Any chart posted on a commercial photo gallery site, particularly Russian galleries is almost always a no-no. The photographs on these sites often point to files uploaded to file sharing/cloud sites. Russian websites end in .ru   3. Websites where you earn "points" to enable you to download designs.  These aren't always illegal copies but there is an infamous Chinese site like this that is full of illegal copies   4. Charts posted to forums, facebook pages & blogs. Most free designs are available from shop websites & designers' own sites and it should be possible to post a link. Some designers use blogs but you should be able to tell if it is their site by the other content. French designers tend to use blogs a lot and there are some gorgeous genuine freebies on those sites.   5. Any site that has a large quantity of computer generated charts from photographs and artwork that doesn't mention the photographer or artist. A lot of these sites harvest images from the internet with no thought to who owns the image. Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is "free". Even if there is no charge for the pattern produced it is still breach of copyright.   6. Charts with no copyright notice as this has been cropped from them by the person sharing.   7. Any cartoon or film character or trademarked logo. This includes but isn't limited to: Hello Kitty, Spiderman, Smurfs, Disney, Coca-Cola, football teams, Snoopy, Betty Boop... You will never find legitimate free designs as designers need to pay a license fee to the copyright/license holder   8. A special note on Pinterest - this has become the new medium of choice for illegal charts but you will find many gorgeous genuine freebies from up and coming designers.   9. Publications & patterns from 1923 and earlier are in the public domain and can be scanned & shared.    Whilst these aren't hard and fast rules - they will weed out many of the illegal patterns