Transfer the design

Counted cross stitch skips the drawing. The chart is a grid and the fabric is a grid, so you only need a starting point: fold the fabric in half and in half again, and the place where the folds cross is the center. Start the middle of the design there and it will sit evenly on the fabric, with the margin you cut on every side.

Surface embroidery needs lines to follow. On light fabric the simple way is tracing: tape the pattern to a window or light box, lay the fabric over it and draw with a water-soluble pen. Transfer (carbon) paper does the same job on fabric too thick to see through. Heat-erasable pens vanish under an iron, but the lines can come back in freezing cold, so test on a scrap first.

For dark or stretchy fabric the usual answer is stick and stitch: a printable, self-adhesive sheet that dissolves in water. Print the design, stick it on, stitch through it and rinse it away. It only suits fabric that can be washed and thread that will not bleed. The water soluble paper guide compares the sheets.

Ready to move on when: Every line of the design is visible on the fabric, or the center is marked and the first stitch is counted from it.