Cross Stitch vs Embroidery: What's the Difference?
Last reviewed September 15, 2026 · How these figures are calculated
Cross stitch is one kind of embroidery: X-shaped stitches placed square by square on a counted fabric grid. Embroidery is the wider craft of decorating fabric with thread, using many stitch types on almost any fabric, with or without a grid.
What is cross stitch?
You follow a chart where each square is one stitch and each symbol is a thread color, working on Aida or evenweave whose weave gives every stitch a fixed position. Finished pieces have a crisp, pixel-like look, and the size depends on the fabric count. The step-by-step guide shows the technique.
What is embroidery?
Surface embroidery uses stitches such as backstitch, stem stitch, satin stitch, chain stitch, French knots and lazy daisy. The design is traced or printed onto cotton, linen or clothing and stitched freehand, so lines can curve and fills can blend smoothly.
Differences between cross stitch and embroidery
| Feature | Cross stitch | Embroidery |
|---|---|---|
| Stitches | Mainly X, plus backstitch | Dozens of stitch types |
| Fabric | Aida, evenweave or linen | Almost any fabric |
| Pattern | Counted grid chart | Design traced onto fabric |
| Needle | Blunt tapestry needle | Sharp embroidery needle |
| Look | Geometric, pixel-like | Flowing lines and texture |
| Getting started | Learn one stitch and read a chart | Learn several stitches |
Where the two overlap
Many cross stitch charts include embroidery stitches: backstitch for outlines and lettering, French knots for eyes and flower centers, and long stitches for whiskers or rigging. Learning those few stitches is an easy bridge from one craft to the other.
Which should you start with?
Choose cross stitch if you like following a pattern exactly and want a predictable result, such as samplers, portraits from photos or text. Planning is precise too: the cross stitch calculator tells you the finished size before you start.
Choose embroidery if you want to draw with thread, decorate clothing or work looser, textured designs. See cross stitch for beginners for a starter supply list.
What transfers if you already do one
Most of the kit moves across. Hoops, six-strand floss, embroidery scissors and the habit of cutting 18-inch lengths are the same in both. So is the discipline of keeping the back tidy, and starting without a knot.
What does not transfer is the needle and the way you judge a stitch. Cross stitch uses a blunt tapestry needle that parts the fabric threads and finds the holes; surface embroidery uses a sharp crewel needle that pierces the fabric wherever you decide. A cross stitcher moving to free embroidery usually finds the first attempts uneven, because nothing is fixing the spacing any more. Someone coming the other way usually finds cross stitch restful for the same reason.
The judgement changes too. In counted work a stitch is right if it is in the right square, and evenness comes free with the grid. In free embroidery a stitch is right if it looks right next to its neighbours, which is a slower thing to learn and the reason samplers of individual stitch types exist.
Mixing the two in one piece
Plenty of finished pieces use both, and one of them you are almost certainly using already: backstitch. The outlines and lettering on a cross stitch chart are a surface embroidery stitch worked over the counted grid, which is why they are added after the crosses and are not in the stitch count.
Beyond backstitch, french knots for eyes and centres, and lazy daisy petals, are the two most common additions to a counted design. Both are worked into the holes of the Aida rather than freely, so the grid still does the placing. Going further than that, satin stitch or stem stitch across the weave, works better on evenweave or linen than on Aida, because the block weave leaves visible gaps under a smooth stitch.