welcome to the Hobby Lobby creative studio my name is Sarah today I'll show you the basics of cross stitching you how to make these easy to stitch coasters don't go away cross-stitch is mostly made up of X shaped stitches with each X being one full cross stitch but sometimes you might see half or quarter stitches used possibly in more detailed patterns today though we're just focusing on a pattern that uses those full X shaped stitches with cross stitch you have the option to stitch on either plastic canvas using yarn or you could stitch on a more fabric cloth like material called a de cloth a de cloth uses embroidery floss or thread instead of yarn because of the small size of its holes compared to the plastic canvas today though we're just going to keep it nice and easy for you and use plastic canvas and yarn to make our coasters so here are the supplies that you'll need medium weight yarn look for the term worsted or for the number four on the yarns label we're using the I love this yarn brand in the colours of antique teal limelight pistach turquoise and fire red a size 16 tapestry needle which has a blunt tip a needle threader a pair of scissors and a sheet of 7 count plastic canvas cut into four different squares each having 27 holes across and 27 holes down here's a bigger than normal version of our pattern so that you can read it more easily we've also included the pattern in the printable attach to this video for you to download and refer to as you stitch so even though the pattern is larger there is still the same amount of holes and intersections as our plastic canvas so each X represents one full cross stitch which always falls on an intersection or the place at which the plastic canvas crosses itself now around each intersection there are four small holes we will be feeding the yarn through each one of these holes in a specific order to make one complete stitch we're going to concentrate on one color section at a time the first of which is this lime light color this happens to be the color that we find in the uppermost left hand corner and that's a great place to start stitching instead of making one X shaped stitch at a time I'm going to be using a method that allows me to cover or area in a shorter amount of time I'll start with my first row here and stitch all the way across the row only making one half of the X shape then once I reach the end of the row I'll go back the way I came to complete the full X shaped stitch next I'll go down a row and do the exact same thing still using my same piece of yarn until it becomes too short to work with so I'll continue that for each row of the section until I'm done with that entire color so let me show you how it's done cut a length of yarn to about 18 inches long and thread your needle locate where to make your first stitch the uppermost left corner remember that each intersection where the stitch will be is surrounded by four small holes that make a square come up from the backside through the bottom left hole of this square pull the yarn through until you have about half an inch of yarn left on the back side temporarily secure this piece with your fingers now insert the needle back down through the top right hole of the square crossing the intersection count the number of stitches you need to make your first row we need one two three four five each cross stitch shares two holes with the stitch next to it so that the stitches are right up next to each other and no plastic canvas shows through continue your stitches by coming up through the next bottom hole over this is now the bottom-left hole of your new set of four holes for the next stitch over insert the needle back down through the top right hole crossing the intersection continue until you have five diagonal stitches now we'll make our stitches complete at the end of the row bring the needle up through the bottom right hole then insert the needle down into the top left hole crossing the intersection and completing the x-shaped cross stitch continue going back across the remaining stitches on the row according to our pattern we need six stitches on our second row here's where our second row is it's the next row of intersections right below the first row of X's so here is where our first set of four holes is make six diagonal stitches first from left to right coming up through the bottom left hole going down into the top right hole each time now go back across the row in the opposite direction to complete the stitches continue to stitch the remaining rows of this color when the yarn starts to become too short to work with easily insert the needle through a completed stitch or two on the back side and snip the yarn down close to the stitch to secure the end of the yarn cut a new 18 inch piece of yarn on the back side run the needle through the nearest two or three stitches to where you left off leaving the very end of the yarn secured as you pull it through pick up your stitching right where you left off to complete the limelight Green section I stitch all these rows here going downward to the point then I started with a new piece of yarn up here on the top right row and worked my way down to meet the other stitches doing it this way gives the back of your canvas a cleaner look because you're not floating the yarn across this large space here where you're about to make more stitches after you've finished the entire section move on to the next color now we'll do the antique teal section according to our pattern we need to start on the sixth intersection over from the left side on the top row one two three four five six perfect we're starting right where we need to be on this first open intersection come up through the bottom left hole when you pull the yarn through don't forget to hold a small piece of it temporarily with your fingers on the back side insert the needle down through the top right hole now again up through the bottom left and down through the top right hole securing the small end of yarn on the back side as you go well you know the drill by now so just continue to stitch until each color section is complete and all the stitches on your pattern are accounted for voila here's what your completed coaster should look like and you'll notice now that we can only see the plastic canvas around this outer edge so using a different colored yarn we're going to whip stitch around the edge and add a pretty border to hide the rest of that plastic canvas secure the end of your yarn by tucking it into one of the stitches on the back side nearest to a corner now with the right side facing you bring the needle up through the corner use your finger to push the yarn back and then come up through the same corner hole again this time using your finger to push the yarn back on the other edge of the corner bring the needle up through the next hole over push the yarn back with your finger then bring the needle up again through the next hole continue doing this through each hole all the way around your border and remember to come up through each corner hole twice as shown before when you finished achene your border tuck your remaining yarn through three or four stitches on the back side as shown before snipping the yarn down close to the stitches and there you have it so repeat everything you just learned three more times to make a complete set of coasters so now that you've conquered that pattern let me show you what a more typical cross stitch pattern looks like the one we referenced today was made especially for you as a beginner to help you show how those X shaped stitches are made from stitching into the four holes that make up a square around an intersection of the canvas once you understand the process you should be able to transition over to a pattern that looks like this without any problems you can see that the two looks similar but the traditional pattern uses a different set of symbols on each section of color to differentiate them and there is a legend to tell us which symbol belongs to which color each square here on our traditional pattern represents one stitch so remember you need four holes total on the plastic canvas to make one full stitch therefore four holes on your plastic canvas equal one square on this pattern once you've got that down you could try your hand at stitching on some a two cloth all you need to do is fold the cloth in half twice to find the center then you're going to unfold it again and then secure it with a hoop and then you're going to actually start stitching from the middle of your fabric outwards to make sure everything is nice and centered then you could turn it into some pillows or maybe a lampshade or you could even frame it like some of these cute examples we have here today so that's all for today everyone thanks for stopping by and giving cross-stitch a try with me today we'll see you next time you