WV 4-H Cross-stitch Nametags

About

West Virginia 4-H members have been making cross-stitch nametags for generations. These nametags tell a story about the wearer, often featuring the 4-H member’s name, county and symbols to tell others about them. The nametags also often hold pins that the members have earned through 4-H.

Making your own nametag takes some planning. Think about what symbols you want to put on your nametag. Because nametag holders range in size, measure the holder that you plan to use. The navy blue WVU 4-H neck wallets will hold a nametag that is 4 inches wide by 2.75 inches high.

Stitch Counts

Cross-stitch fabric is available with various fabric counts. The fabric count on the package refers to the number of squares in 1 inch. For example, 14 count fabric means there are 14 squares in 1 inch. As the fabric count gets larger, the stitches get smaller. 

Below is an example of how the finished pattern size of 56 squares wide by 36 squares high is affected by the count size:

• The finished product on 14-count fabric will be 4 inches wide by 25/8 inches high.
• The finished product on 16-count fabric will be 3 5/8 inches wide by 23/8 inches high.
• The finished product on 18-count fabric will be 31/8 inches wide by 2 inches high.

Stitch Types

You will see different symbols on cross-stitch patterns. The symbols tell you the type of stitch to use.

• A full 5 in a square – Make a cross-stitch 
• Half of an 5 in a square – Make a half-stitch
• A bold line – Make a backstitch
• A bold dot – Make a French knot

Patterns that use more than one color thread will use different symbols in each square to tell you which color to use. There will be a key with the pattern that explains which colors are represented by which symbol.

Draft a Design

Before you make your first stitch, you will want to make a plan. We have provided a 56 square by 56 square grid below for you to plan your nametag. Based on 14-count fabric, you will finish with a 4 inch wide by 4 inch high nametag.

Thread

References

• Barwick, C. G. (2019, October 16). What is fabric count in cross-stitching? Retrieved from https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/cross-stitch-fabriccount-meaning-983891.
• DMC. (n.d.). How to read cross stitch charts. Retrieved from https://www.dmc.com/us/p-tutorialshow-to-read-a-cross-stitch-chart.html.

Materials included are in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF documents can be viewed and printed using the Adobe Acrobat software.  Acrobat Reader is available to download, free of charge, for Macintosh, Windows, DOS and Unix Systems.

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