How to Do Reversible Cross Stitch

New to cross stitch? This page covers a more advanced, reversible technique. If you're just starting out, begin with how to cross stitch, or explore all my cross stitch guides.

Why make your work reversible?

Here were some of the answers I got:

• So that towels, tablecloths and the like look good whichever side is showing.
• So that when someone turns the work over to peek at the back, they're surprised.
• For the challenge!
• So that Christmas decorations can twirl on the tree and still look good.

I couldn't argue with any of those, so I set to and came up with a solution.

Which designs suit this technique?

It works best for designs with simple blocks of colour, or checked and plaid-type patterns. You might find it tricky on more complex or realistic designs that use lots of colour changes.

The method below is easy, and it gives you neat crosses on both sides of the work, that all-important tidy back to your cross stitch project.

How to work reversible cross stitch

I worked with a variation of the continental method: stitching a row of the first "legs" of the stitches, then crossing them on the way back. (That basic method is on my learn how to cross stitch page.)

The difference is that I missed out alternate stitches, as shown in the first photo below. Here you can see the first row being crossed on the way back along it.

The trick when moving on to the second row was keeping that first stitch diagonal on the back. In fact, I worried so much about it that I ended up working the underneath legs in the wrong direction!

I'm pleased that the back of the work in this next photo shows crosses, not the usual vertical stitches. You can still see them where the colour change happens, though.

There are also the inevitable fastening-offs of the thread, which spoil the look a little. I carried on filling in the lemon-coloured stitches, crossing them correctly, then worked the chessboard construction in the top section.

The completed square doesn't look too bad on the front, does it?

But how about the all-important "reversible" back?

Apart from messing up the checkerboard effect when fastening off, particularly where I changed direction to add a stitch I'd missed in the top corner of the lemon area, I think that area would have worked well. The solid areas look good front and back. If I try it again, I'll work on disguising the joins where one colour changes to another in a vertical row.

A way to lose the empty vertical lines

I've since worked out how to eliminate those empty vertical lines.

When you take your first stitch, the one that creates the anchoring loop, work it over the top of an existing cross stitch. Make sure it lies in the same direction as the top stitch, to keep everything even and tidy. Your next stitch then goes into the gap of the previous layer as normal.