Beginner's Guide to Gridding Cross Stitch Fabric | Caterpillar Cross Stitch

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thanks for being here Caterpillar Crew! Please like and subscribe and don't forget to claim your 10% off discount code for your first order by tapping here: eepurl.com/giThcT Sally and Ford x

[@lisaboban]

Using a monofilament is really your only option for gridding a fabric if you are working with a fabric or threads that are not colorfast. There are also a wide variety of pre-gridded fabrics available if you don't want to DIY. Always a pleasure to see a new Caterpillar Cross Stitch video!

[@SonovaStitch]

I forgot to mention pre-gridded, good point! Thanks for watching!

[@maeolaogden5223]

I started watching this video because men have a different way of seeing things. Love the caliper method. Wondered why people don't use a ruler to measure. I too struggle with astigmatism. Thanks much.

[@debik3893]

Calipers! Brilliant!!

[@SonovaStitch]

I always love when I can bring a tool from one craft into another. Thanks for watching!

[@karintownley8383]

Thank you. Love these videos. But ‘downtown Birmingham’ made me laugh out loud. Bless you!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@SonovaStitch]

Lol. Listen. I grew up in a town where 'downtown' is a 4-way stop sign. (There was one elevator and it was a grain elevator.) So downtown is a bit of a moving target. Thanks for watching!

[@Syklst58]

I really enjoy your videos Ford. They are so clear and concise. Thanks for this one. Now I have an excuse to use my husband’s calipers. What a great idea. Thanks again!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thanks for watching! So pleased you found it helpful!

[@nanapat1416]

Thank you so much for this informative video. I am fairly new to cross stitch and was a bit confused about gridding the fabric. You explained this beautifully. I recently found your channel and will definitely watch more of your videos.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for watching! We are glad it was helpful!

[@sandrashaw8343]

Thank you for the great tips, I am definitely going to get a caliper. X

[@SonovaStitch]

Thanks for watching! Glad you found it helpful! It's amazing how often you find need of calipers once you have them.

[@bethkoch11]

My husband has a LOT of tools in the garage. I thought he might have calipers, and when I asked, he said "Of course I have calipers!", as if "Don't Be Silly!" So they're now in my sewing room!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Amazing! Thanks for watching!

[@susantydeman1566]

Fantastic thank you.

[@SonovaStitch]

Thanks for watching!

[@janetrothwell4448]

I have only marked my centres but would certainly be more accurate with full gridding. I never thought to use callipers! I'll use them on my next project. Thanks for an informative video.

[@SonovaStitch]

Thanks for watching! Glad you found it helpful!

[@kaylamenter3260]

Maybe similar to the pencil you were using in the first example, but I've been using the Leonis Water Erasable Fabric Pens from Amazon. I haven't completely finished a project with them yet, but did test them before I marked a bunch of fabric and seemed like they were super easy to get out.

[@SonovaStitch]

Smart to test it first!

[@katherinebraithwaite3794]

If I'm counting from the middle to grid, I usually put a circle around the centre mark. That way I don't get it confused with the mark for the actual grid.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

That's a great tip, thank you for sharing :)

[@rosemarylang7149]

Thank you for this tip. I will be using this on my next cross stitch. Keep up the good work. I will be back.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thanks for watching! We're pleased to hear you have found this useful :)

[@sarah140386]

I use heat erasable pen

[@SonovaStitch]

Make sure you watch to the end because I do talk about those! Thanks for watching!

[@barbarawest1205]

I've been using Sulky Sliver, which is a monofilament and thinner than the fishing-line filaments I've seen recommended. No problem extracting it from the finished piece - it's kind of cathartic! But it is time-consuming to grid this way. Kaylamenter mentioned the water-soluble pens. I recently unearthed one I bught years ago at a craft exp and never used. I suspect I never will because it says it's water-soluble, but also says "Can be removed easily with Blue Line Eraser." a different product! It also says I should have been storing it in the freezer all those years, which f course I didn't. But I have wondered about the water-soluble blue marker pens sold today. It seems they would be more durable, in a good way, than the pencils you have. Do you ever experience the pencil marks rubbing off before you want them gone? Genius use of a caliper. I'm now thinking about using the calipers wiith the fabric-marker pencils (or a new blue fabric pen) before I grid with Sulky. That way it should be faster to stitch a grid and I'd have the benefit of durability + easy removal.

[@SonovaStitch]

Best of both worlds! But yeah, I've gridded with monofilament before and it's the most accurate and durable, but super time consuming. The calipers at least would make the counting a lot faster. Thanks for watching!

[@PDunnevant]

I just discovered gridding and used a Frixion pen after watching a CCS video about parking. Thankfully it's a full coverage piece so all of the marks will be covered, but I'm so grateful that I now know to use the dressmaker pencils for future projects. Thank you!!!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Glad you found this useful!

[@marthahooper8141]

I'm in the UK. I use the pre gridded magic guide Aida. The grid just washes out when you're done, makes sewing cross stitch patterns easy. Another method of marking is Berol handwriting pens (fine). These are designed to be used by children and they easily wash out. I recommend doing a test patch first on axspare piece of fabric..DONT use any other kind of pen or pencil. They may not wash out and ruin your work. I do use monofilament thread but you have to be careful that you can pull it out, ordinary sewing thread can be a devil to remove if you split the fibres and it will show through.!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for sharing what works for you. :)

[@DawnAtkins-s8b]

I found this 4 month old by reading back from when i subscribed. So useful. I have a dimensions gold japenese warrior to ( finally) sew, but it is very complicated ( for me) and i need to grid the fabric before i start, so 😮now i know how to. Thank you.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Wonderful! Glad this video has helped! Good Luck with your Japanese Warrior!

[@smolbluelady5278]

This was so helpful!! Thank you 🙏 *also i love your hair 💜*

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Pleased to hear you found this helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@chantalhenderson6994]

Only a beginner so not sure about gridding but love your purple hair!❤

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for watching :)

[@dakotamom247]

I use red fishing line to grid my fabric. Easy to pull out when I’m finished stitching.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Great tip! Thank you for sharing!

[@tabcat03]

I concur about the Frixion pens. I use them for my embroidery projects that I know are going to completely cover the pen marks. But I've had to try to "erase" some of them with heat, and I can still see the faint lines. Definitely not good for cross stitch!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

What do you use instead? Thanks for watching!

[@olivia6092]

I had no idea about friction pen reappearing on fabric over time or even that they never truly vanish this has saved me from ruining a project i was about to start thank you for sharing 😮❤ 10:08

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

You are so welcome!

[@merlynnevorkosigan]

Thank you for sharing your tips. I have recently bought some large charts and your tip will be very very useful.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Great to hear that you have found this helpful! Thank you for watching!

[@jamesnacy6249]

Such a great demo! You always explain things really well. I almost always stitch on linen, rather than Aida. Anything special to be aware of when gridding linen, other than knowing whether you're stitching over 2 or over 1?

[@SonovaStitch]

I would be very careful if you try to use the caliper hack on linen; the size of the individual strands within the weave can be more variable on linen than on aida or other higher-count cloths (such as lugana or monaco). Also probably a good idea if you use the fabric marking pencils to sharpen them a bit more often, since more precision of the markings is called for!

[@annpachini2155]

Sulky Sliver is a great to grid your fabric. It is a monofilament thread

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thanks for watching :)

[@joyceliebe2364]

Very informative! Thank you.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for watching!

[@Skybeat8]

Awesome video as always! I use water soluble mechanical pencils, they're just like the water soluble pencils, just mechanical and easier for me to grip! I also use the water soluble fabric markers by Dritz, they're wonderful to use and wash out! :) I did experiment with crayola washable markers, they work good too! Can't complain about them since they do wash out! 😂

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thanks for sharing your supplies!

[@SWEETDFAN17]

Another great video! I never have gridded my fabric but I'm currently working on a very large full coverage piece that is 26" x 23". It's my first large piece and first time working on 18 count Aida. I did research before I started the project and also read about Fricton pens not being the best choice. I was going to use dress maker chalk but then I saw how small the holes were in the fabric. I returned the fabric to the craft store and ended up buying on line pre gridded fabric for $80. Well worth the month and I used some scraps of it to make sure the lines disappear since the first 8300 were white and you can see the blue grid lines behind the white stitches!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

We're pleased to hear you are enjoying the video

[@SonovaStitch]

Always smart to test your methodology first! Can't tell you how many posts I've seen from people who were desperate to fix something after way too many hours of work because they didn't test something first. I should have mentioned pre-grid in the video. Thank you for watching!

[@susanscanlon5291]

What if you’re using 36 count linen? Counting by 10 wouldn’t work?

[@winningnumbers]

What if I have to make a grid for when I'm stitching over 2? I just want to see how you would do it please. Very difficult to do on 28 ct.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thanks for watching. We will look into covering this.

[@karenodle5604]

If stitching over two on linen or even weave, do I grid in blocks of twenty rather than ten? Sorry, I'm having trouble grasping this...

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for watching!

[@karenodle5604]

@@CaterpillarCrossStitch I'm sorry, but you didn't answer my question 😔...

[@Kahtini]

yeah. do the grid in a pattern of 10x10 "squares". each square having 2x2 threads

[@lesleysmith9062]

As a beginner what pen could you remind ?

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Ford is using a dress makers pencil

[@JudyPereman-id9hb]

I have been hearing scary things about gridding pens/ pencils not coming out or coming back after a while some what down the road, what are your thoughts tia j

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Ford covers this a little in the video and recommends a dress makers pencil :)

[@JudyPereman-id9hb]

Thank you

[@theNeverangel]

Friction pens aren't good to use BUT if you have and the ink reappeared use heat to get it to go away again! Hairdryer, iron, I've even heard people using a microwave :) So all isn't lost!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for sharing that tip!

[@pauldoniavernon6216]

How to grid linen

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

We'll add that to our list!

[@LindaAdams-v2s]

A word of advice! Make sure when griding your fabric, that you are using a water soluble pen/marker. I had bought a fancy pen/marker at Walmart that has a blue end and a purple end. Now since purple is my favorite color, I had used the purple end to grid my fabric without taking care in reading the pen. Imagine my surprise when I got up the next morning to find ALL of my neatly made gridlines had disappeared!! The blue end is water Soluble Ink, but the purple end is "Air & Water Soluble Ink!" My hair may be purple now, however I was born BLONDE!! True Story!!

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Oh no! thank you for sharing your story!

[@SonovaStitch]

Wow, I haven't heard of "air soluble" before! Definitely something to keep an eye out for. That would be tragic! I have the same problem with my hair dye, actually. It just...evaporates sometimes, without even being washed. Especially if I spend time out in the sun. My hair just wants me to be tow-headed again like I was when I was a child!

[@hezvandermeij]

I was one of those silly-billies who forgot graphite on Aida is a d34th-wish I found an old thread on Reddit that saved my forgetful queer behind though! I shall paste the solution (though I have edited the measurements as it used Cup and I use milliliters and I did not need a full cup either) that genuinely saved my b-day gift for someone from looking like eh with a full (light) pencil grid to "wow no one ever gridded on this it seems: Mix 15ml of room temperature water with 45ml of rubbing alcohol (though 70% for cleaning instruments such as thermometers worked just fine for me! I am unsure if it would be the same) and 1 or 2 drops of a mild dish-soap. Dip a toothbrush in and scrub gently (on 14 count Aida you can be less gently if needed!) over the pencil marks. Do keep the brush away from stiches, as it may catch on to the treads as Ford has described before in his washing video! Edit: just got to the very last do-not-tip and my heart sank. I have *only* seen people recommend it and actually have never seen a Pilot statement. So I thought to be doing good by switching from pencil to friction pen. Only to now learn that it genuinely would have been better to just stick with my pencil and rubbing mix... Jesus what a disappointment, and I am too far in to just discard and re-start as this one has a deadline.

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Thank you for the tip and oh no! Hopefully it wont become a problem.

[@andrewilliams1954]

🪡👍🏽

[@SonovaStitch]

Thanks for watching!

[@karenreilly9425]

I used the easy guide and lost it on my carpet so my romba found it and ruined the vaccum so be careful of leaving this stuff around..

[@CaterpillarCrossStitch]

Oh my goodness!