The six fonts
- Basic 5×723 × 7 stitches
- Serif 7×929 × 9 stitches
- Tiny 3×515 × 5 stitches
- Bold 6×727 × 7 stitches
- Outline 7×931 × 9 stitches
- Big 10×1443 × 14 stitches
Each font is drawn cell by cell for stitching rather than shrunk from a computer font, so every stroke is a whole number of cells and nothing ends up as half a stitch.
| Font | Capital size | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny 3×5 | 3 × 5 | Bracelets, bookmarks, small labels |
| Basic 5×7 | 5 × 7 | Most names, clear and simple |
| Bold 6×7 | 6 × 7 | Beads and knitting, where thin lines get lost |
| Serif 7×9 | 7 × 9 | Samplers and keepsakes |
| Outline 7×9 | 7 × 9 | Hollow letters filled with a second colour |
| Big 10×14 | 10 × 14 | Blankets, rugs and signs |
How big will it be?
Here are common names and phrases measured with the text tool’s own layout, at the default letter spacing, with no border or padding. Each cell shows width × height in cells, and the width in inches on 14-count Aida:
| Text | Basic 5×7 | Serif 7×9 | Tiny 3×5 | Bold 6×7 | Outline 7×9 | Big 10×14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ava | 17 × 7 · 1.2 in | 23 × 9 · 1.6 in | 11 × 5 · 0.8 in | 20 × 7 · 1.4 in | 23 × 9 · 1.6 in | 32 × 14 · 2.3 in |
| Emma | 23 × 7 · 1.6 in | 29 × 9 · 2.1 in | 15 × 5 · 1.1 in | 27 × 7 · 1.9 in | 31 × 9 · 2.2 in | 43 × 14 · 3.1 in |
| Oliver | 33 × 7 · 2.4 in | 37 × 9 · 2.6 in | 23 × 5 · 1.6 in | 39 × 7 · 2.8 in | 45 × 9 · 3.2 in | 61 × 14 · 4.4 in |
| Charlotte | 53 × 7 · 3.8 in | 59 × 9 · 4.2 in | 35 × 5 · 2.5 in | 62 × 7 · 4.4 in | 71 × 9 · 5.1 in | 98 × 14 · 7.0 in |
| Mum & Dad | 49 × 7 · 3.5 in | 59 × 9 · 4.2 in | 33 × 5 · 2.4 in | 56 × 7 · 4.0 in | 63 × 9 · 4.5 in | 90 × 14 · 6.4 in |
| Happy Birthday | 79 × 7 · 5.6 in | 95 × 9 · 6.8 in | 54 × 5 · 3.9 in | 92 × 7 · 6.6 in | 105 × 9 · 7.5 in | 145 × 14 · 10.4 in |
For other crafts, divide the width in cells by the craft’s gauge instead: fuse beads are about 5 mm each, so a 30-bead name is about 15 cm. Our fabric size calculator does the sum for cross stitch at any count.
Planning to a fixed size
If the text has to fit something, such as a bracelet 9 knots wide or a frame of a set size, work backwards: divide the space by the cells per letter in the table above to find how many letters fit, then choose the largest font that fits. Set Fixed width in the options (on alpha bracelets it is Width (strings across)); the text wraps and centres within that many cells.
Layouts
- Horizontal writes left to right, wrapping onto new lines.
- Stacked puts one letter above the next, for narrow bell pulls and banners.
- Sideways rotates the text 90 degrees so it reads along a long strip, the usual layout for alpha and peyote bracelets.
A fixed width wraps and centres the text inside a set number of cells, which is how bracelet patterns keep the string count you choose.
Borders and colours
Eight borders frame a name. Single, dotted, checker and zigzag are lines 2 cells wide; double, hearts, stars and diamonds are 4 cells wide. Add the border width to every side when you plan the size, plus the padding between the text and the border (one cell by default).
Choose text, background and border colours from the craft’s palette. In cross stitch, leave the background empty to let the fabric show; dark text on a light ground, or the reverse, reads best.
Characters you can use
The fonts include digits, punctuation, a heart (♥), an ampersand and a plus sign, so dates, “Mum & Dad” and “Est. 2026” all work. Accented capitals and the Cyrillic alphabet are in every font except Tiny 3×5, which writes accented letters without their marks and has no Cyrillic. Letters are capitals only; lowercase is shown as capitals. Text can be up to 40 characters long.
Craft-by-craft tips
| Craft | Font and layout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cross stitch samplers | Serif 7×9, date on a second line | Looks traditional; serifs survive at 14-count |
| Alpha bracelets | Tiny or Basic, sideways | Fits 7–11 strings; see alpha bracelet basics |
| Fuse beads | Bold 6×7 | Thicker strokes stay readable after ironing |
| Knitting | Bold 6×7 or Basic | Short floats; avoid single-cell lines |
| C2C and latch hook | Big 10×14 | Reads from across a room |
For single letters to download straight away, browse the cross stitch alphabet or the alphabet chart for any other craft, linked from each craft’s page.
Checking the result
Before stitching, look at the preview at the size it will really be. Letters with only one cell between them can merge into one shape, so increase the letter spacing if a name looks crowded. Similar colours for text and background lose contrast. Backstitch round light letters, as described in our backstitch guide, sharpens them against the fabric.