What Is Aida Fabric?

How Aida is woven

Instead of single threads crossing one another, Aida weaves groups of threads together. Each group forms a firm block, and the gaps between blocks become the holes you stitch through. The grid is visible at a glance, so you count squares rather than individual threads.

New Aida is finished with sizing that keeps it stiff and square while you work. The stiffness washes out when the finished piece is laundered.

Aida counts

A higher count has smaller blocks, so stitches are smaller and a design finishes smaller. The full comparison is in Aida counts explained.

Types of Aida fabric

• Cotton Aida. The everyday choice in white, cream and a wide range of colors.
• Blended and linen-look Aida. Cotton mixed with polyester or linen, for a cheaper or more rustic fabric.
• Aida band. Narrow strips with finished edges, used for bookmarks, towel borders and jar bands.
• Gridded Aida. Printed with a 10 × 10 wash-out grid that makes counting large charts easier.
• Hand-dyed and printed Aida. Mottled or pre-printed backgrounds that reduce the amount of stitching.

For clothing, use waste canvas: it gives a temporary Aida-style grid over ordinary fabric and is pulled out thread by thread after stitching.

How Aida is sold

There is no single standard size. Aida comes as pre-cut pieces (packs of around 12 × 18 or 15 × 18 inches are common), by the yard or meter from wider rolls, and in bands. Decide the size from your design with the Aida cloth calculator, then buy the smallest piece that covers it with a border.

Aida vs evenweave and linen

Evenweave and linen have single threads, usually stitched over two, so 28-count evenweave gives 14 stitches per inch like 14-count Aida. They drape more softly and take fractional stitches cleanly, but you count threads instead of blocks. Aida is the easier fabric to learn on; evenweave suits heirloom pieces. See the 28-count evenweave calculator.