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Cross stitch has been bringing joy to crafters for well over a thousand years. But have you ever wondered how this beloved hobby came to be? The story of counted cross stitch takes us from ancient Egyptian tombs to Tudor England, through two World Wars, and into the thriving online communities of today.
Whether you're a complete beginner or have been stitching for years, understanding where cross stitch came from can deepen your appreciation for every X you make. So let's travel back through the centuries and trace the threads of this fascinating craft.
Before we look at the history, it helps to understand what makes counted cross stitch different from other forms of embroidery.
Counted cross stitch involves following a charted pattern and counting the squares on your fabric to place each stitch. The fabric, usually aida cloth, evenweave, or linen, has an even weave that creates a visible grid. You count the squares on both the chart and the fabric to recreate the design, stitch by stitch.
This differs from stamped cross stitch, where the pattern is pre-printed directly onto the fabric. With stamped designs, you simply stitch over the printed marks rather than counting.
The "counted" method gives stitchers greater control and precision. It also connects us directly to centuries of needleworkers who learned to count threads and follow patterns long before printed charts existed. When you pick up a cross stitch kit today and start counting squares, you're participating in a tradition that stretches back hundreds of years.
Embroidery itself is almost as old as woven cloth. Ancient wall paintings and sculptures show decorated garments from the earliest civilisations. But when did the crossed stitch we recognise today first appear?
The earliest surviving fragment of embroidered cloth containing cross stitches dates back to the 6th or 7th century AD. It was found in a Coptic tomb in Upper Egypt, preserved by the dry desert climate. This piece of linen, embroidered with wool, gives us physical proof that cross stitch was already an established technique over 1,400 years ago.
Even earlier, an ancient Peruvian running-stitch sampler has been dated to somewhere between 200 and 500 AD. While not strictly cross stitch, it shows that needleworkers across different cultures were recording and practising their stitches in similar ways.
Cross stitch embroidery also flourished during the Tang Dynasty in China (618-906 AD). Skilled embroiderers worked with precious silk threads, and their techniques likely spread westward along the ancient trade routes. Tea and embroidered goods were exchanged along the Silk Road, carrying needlework traditions from East to West.
As embroidery techniques travelled along trade routes, they found fertile ground in Moorish Spain. Between 756 and 1492 AD, Islamic civilisation flourished in the Iberian Peninsula, and with it came distinctive needlework traditions.
Moorish embroiderers used cross stitches on hemp cloth to create small, repeating geometric patterns arranged in grids. This gridded approach to embroidery is considered by many historians to be a key influence on the development of counted cross stitch as we know it. The geometric precision required for Islamic decorative arts translated naturally into counted needlework.
During this same period, blackwork; a form of embroidery using black thread on white linen, became popular in Spain. Many believe blackwork influenced the development of cross stitch, as both techniques rely on counted threads and geometric designs.
Cross stitch gained a royal advocate when Catherine of Aragon arrived in England. When she married Henry VIII in 1509, she brought Spanish embroidery traditions with her to the Tudor court.
Catherine was a skilled needlewoman who continued stitching throughout her life, creating garments for the king and herself. Her influence helped popularise blackwork and other counted embroidery techniques among English nobility. The fashion spread quickly; soon, embroidered collars, cuffs, and shirts became markers of status and refinement.
Even before Catherine's arrival, English literature referenced embroidered clothing. Geoffrey Chaucer, writing in the 14th century, described the miller's wife in The Canterbury Tales wearing a smock "embroidered at the collar all about with coal-black silk." Needlework was clearly valued in medieval England, and Catherine's influence helped counted techniques become even more fashionable.
Image by Fine Art Restoration Company
If you've ever seen an antique piece of needlework featuring alphabets, numbers, and scattered motifs, you've seen a sampler. But samplers weren't originally decorative pieces meant for display, they were practical reference tools.
The word "sampler" comes from the Latin "exemplum," meaning "example." Before printed pattern books became widely available, needleworkers would stitch samples of patterns, borders, and stitches onto strips of fabric. These recorded their knowledge and could be referred to later when working on other projects.
Linen was expensive, so stitchers used every inch of their fabric. Early samplers, known as "band samplers," were long and narrow, covered edge to edge with rows of different patterns. "Spot samplers" featured motifs scattered randomly across the fabric, often unfinished works used for testing stitches and trying out new designs.
The oldest dated British sampler was stitched by Jane Bostocke in 1598. Her sampler, now held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, commemorates the birth of her cousin Alice Lee in 1596.
Jane's work contains a wonderful variety of elements: floral and animal motifs, samples of different stitches and patterns, an alphabet (missing the letters J, U, and Z, as was common at the time), and family crests relating to the Lee household. Some motifs suggest Jane had access to early printed pattern books, showing how new technology was beginning to influence needlework.
This sampler sits at an interesting point in history. It represents the transition between samplers as practical reference works for experienced embroiderers and what they would become in the 17th century: demonstration pieces showing a stitcher's skill. If you're ever in London, the V&A's textile collection offers a wonderful opportunity to see this piece and others like it.
By the 17th century, sampler making had become an important part of girls' education across Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, and America. Young girls learned needlework skills that would serve them throughout their lives; mending clothes, marking household linens, and decorating their homes.
Samplers evolved to include alphabets and numbers (useful for marking linens with initials and dates), religious verses, moral sayings, and pictorial elements like houses, flowers, and animals. Map samplers taught geography, while darning samplers demonstrated the repair techniques every wife and mother would need.
During the 18th century, samplers became more decorative and were proudly displayed in homes. A well-executed sampler showed a young woman's accomplishment with a needle; a desirable quality for prospective suitors evaluating a potential wife's household abilities. By this time, cross stitch had become the dominant stitch used, and designs grew more personal, featuring individual houses, local scenes, and events from the stitcher's own life.
Image by National Archives
For most of needlework history, stitchers learned patterns by copying them from existing pieces or receiving instruction from family members and teachers. This changed with the invention of the printing press.
The first recorded printed pattern book was published by Johann Schönsperger in Germany in 1524. Others quickly followed throughout Europe, particularly in Italy and France. These early books printed patterns as black dots or squares on a grid, remarkably similar to the charts we use today.
However, there was one significant difference: early pattern books had no colour information. The choice of thread colours was left entirely to the stitcher. This might seem limiting, but it actually gave embroiderers creative freedom that many modern stitchers would envy.
Despite the existence of printed books, they remained expensive and hard to obtain for many years. Most women couldn't afford them, which is precisely why the sampler tradition continued. Stitchers copied favourite designs from the work of others, building personal reference collections stitch by stitch. This practice of recording and sharing patterns created a folk tradition that varied by region and was passed down through generations.
Cross stitching didn't maintain its popularity continuously. The 19th century brought a new craze that temporarily pushed traditional cross stitch aside.
Berlin woolwork, which peaked between the 1830s and 1870s, involved stitching coloured wool onto canvas following painted or printed charts. These charts were revolutionary; they showed exact colours, taking the guesswork out of shade selection. The designs featured naturalistic flowers, animals, and sentimental scenes with shading that created almost three-dimensional effects.
Berlin woolwork patterns were sold individually and were relatively affordable, making decorated needlework accessible to middle-class women for the first time. The style spread across Europe and America, and for several decades, traditional cross stitch samplers seemed old-fashioned by comparison.
Yet Berlin woolwork left an important legacy. The concept of following a coloured chart printed on a grid directly influenced how modern counted cross stitch patterns are designed and presented. When cross stitch eventually returned to popularity, it adopted the charted format that Berlin woolwork had popularised.
When you open a cross stitch kit today, there's a good chance the thread inside comes from DMC. This French company has been part of needlecraft history for nearly three centuries.
DMC began in 1746 when Jean-Henri Dollfus established a fabric printing company in Mulhouse, France. The company produced "indiennes"; brightly coloured printed cotton fabrics inspired by Indian textiles. In 1800, Daniel Dollfus-Mieg took over and gave the company its lasting name: Dollfus-Mieg et Compagnie, or DMC.
The company expanded into thread production in 1841, but their most significant contribution to cross stitch came in 1898: the creation of Mouliné Spécial. This stranded cotton embroidery thread; the same type millions of stitchers use today, revolutionised needlework. Its consistent quality, colourfast dyes, and smooth finish made it the standard for embroidery worldwide.
Today, DMC operates in over 125 countries and offers more than 500 colour variations. The thread is still manufactured in Mulhouse, in the same factory it has used since 1898.
While DMC provided the thread, a German company created the fabric that would make counted cross stitch accessible to beginners everywhere.
Zweigart invented aida cloth in 1907. Unlike linen or evenweave fabrics, where stitchers must count individual threads, aida is woven in blocks that create clearly visible squares. Each block has a hole at each corner, making it obvious where to insert the needle.
This blocked structure was revolutionary. Suddenly, counted cross stitch didn't require the sharp eyes and experience needed to count fine linen threads. Beginners could easily see where each stitch should go. Aida comes in different "counts"; 14-count (14 squares per inch) being the most popular for beginners, with finer counts like 16 and 18 available for more detailed work.
If you've stitched on fabric with an orange thread woven into the selvedge, you've used genuine Zweigart aida. That orange line is their trademark, still used today to identify authentic Zweigart products.
The two World Wars significantly affected all crafts, including cross stitch. When World War I began in 1914, cotton prices soared, making embroidery thread a luxury few could afford. When British women gained the right to vote in 1918, many entered the workforce, leaving less time for leisure pursuits like needlework.
World War II brought even stricter rationing. Cotton was needed for the war effort, and supplies for craft projects became scarce. Interestingly, cross stitch found an unexpected place during these years: prisoner of war camps. Some POWs turned to embroidery as a way to pass time and maintain mental wellbeing. A few even stitched hidden messages into their work.
The post-war years brought new labour-saving household appliances; washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and convenience foods. For the first time in generations, many women had genuine leisure time.
The 1960s saw counted cross stitch return as a hobby pursued for pleasure rather than necessity. Early kits from this period often featured copies of traditional samplers, connecting modern stitchers with the craft's historical roots. Cross stitch had come full circle; from practical skill to leisure activity, while still honouring the designs of centuries past.
Cross stitch reached new heights of popularity during the 1980s. In the UK, designers like Jane Greenoff, who founded The Cross Stitch Guild, became household names among stitchers. Jo Verso's books and patterns brought fresh approaches while respecting traditional techniques.
The commercial craft industry responded to growing demand. Kits, pattern books, and specialty threads became widely available in high street shops. Cross stitch magazines launched, providing enthusiasts with regular patterns, tips, and a sense of community. Local guilds formed, and early computer networks allowed stitchers to connect and share their work.
For many current stitchers, the 1980s was when they first picked up a needle; perhaps learning from a mother or grandmother who had rediscovered the craft.
In 2003, American designer Julie Jackson created Subversive Cross Stitch, pairing traditional sampler borders and motifs with irreverent, often cheeky messages. What started as personal stress relief (Jackson was dealing with a difficult boss) became a movement that attracted a whole new generation to the craft.
Subversive cross stitch challenged the assumption that needlework had to be sweet or sentimental. By framing modern messages within traditional aesthetics, it demonstrated that cross stitch could be funny, political, and relevant. The movement brought younger stitchers to the craft and proved that counted cross stitch could adapt to contemporary tastes while maintaining its traditional techniques.
The internet transformed how stitchers find patterns, share their work, and connect with each other. Pattern design software means anyone with an idea can create and sell charts online. Platforms like Etsy have enabled independent designers to reach customers worldwide.
YouTube has given a place for stitchers who film videos sharing their projects, hauls, and stitching tips. Instagram and Facebook groups allow stitchers to share progress photos and seek advice from fellow crafters across the globe.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 brought a significant surge in craft hobbies, including cross stitch. Lockdowns gave people time to learn new skills, and many found that the rhythmic, meditative nature of stitching provided welcome calm during uncertain times. The mental health benefits of cross stitch; something stitchers have known for centuries, gained wider recognition.
Cross stitch is now more accessible than ever. Beginner kits come with everything needed to start: fabric, thread, needle, pattern, and instructions. Designs range from traditional samplers to pop culture references, pixel art, and modern minimalist patterns.
The craft continues to attract people of all ages and backgrounds. Online communities have helped break down the stereotype that cross stitch is only for older women; stitchers of all genders share their work proudly. The slow, deliberate nature of the craft offers a welcome contrast to fast-paced digital life, and many people find that counting stitches quiets an anxious mind.
If the history of cross stitch has sparked your curiosity, several UK institutions hold wonderful collections:
With counted cross stitch, you follow a charted pattern and count the squares on blank fabric to place each stitch. Stamped cross stitch has the design pre-printed on the fabric, so you stitch directly over the printed marks. Most cross stitch patterns today are designed for counted work.
The earliest surviving cross stitch embroidery dates to the 6th or 7th century AD, found in Egyptian tombs. However, embroidery itself goes back much further, and crossed stitches were likely used before any surviving examples.
Jane Bostocke's sampler from 1598 is the oldest dated British sampler. It's held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and commemorates the birth of her cousin Alice Lee.
Because you count the threads or squares on your fabric to place each stitch according to a charted pattern, rather than following a pre-printed design.
Aida cloth is most popular, especially for beginners, because its blocked weave creates obvious squares. Evenweave and linen fabrics are preferred by experienced stitchers for a finer finish.
From ancient Egypt to your living room, cross stitch has travelled through centuries and across continents. Every time you thread your needle and count your first square, you're joining a tradition shared by countless stitchers before you; from medieval embroiderers to Victorian schoolgirls to modern crafters around the world.
Ready to begin? Browse our collection of cross stitch kits and accessories for everything you need to start your own stitching journey.
Happy stitching!
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The 2026 All-Star Stitchers membership is the ultimate treat for any cross stitch lover! Be a part of an elite cross stitch club, save time and money, and gain access to lots of exciting members-only luxuries
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