Stitching time: pace, coverage and schedule
Hours = stitches ÷ stitches per hour. One planner gives the example 12,000 ÷ 150 = 80 hours. The stitch count is a fact about the pattern; the pace is a fact about you, and it is the one people guess badly.
Published paces vary widely. One stitcher timed 150 stitches in 36 minutes, which is 150 ÷ 36 × 60 = 250 an hour; a planner's own test is 70 crosses in half an hour, 140 an hour, and its presets run from 60 for a novice to 300 for a fast stitcher. No table can tell you where you fall. A timed test on the project itself, long enough to include a few thread changes, is the only figure worth using, and the calculator accepts the test as it is: stitches done and minutes taken.
If the pattern gives only its size, the stitches are width × height × the share of the area that is stitched. A full coverage piece uses all of it; a sampler with open fabric uses far less. The key of most patterns lists stitches per color, and their sum is the exact count.
Backstitch, knots, beads, unpicking and finishing are not in the count. Planners suggest adding 10 to 20 percent when a date matters. The calculator keeps that buffer separate from the plain figure so you can see both.
Calendar time depends on how often you stitch: stitching days = hours ÷ hours on a stitching day, and weeks = stitching days ÷ stitching days per week.
Chart: hours of stitching by stitch count and stitches per hour
Each cell is the stitching time for the stitches in its row at the pace in its column, with no buffer.
| Stitches per hour | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stitches in the project | 80 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 | 300 |
| 1,000 | 12.5 h | 10.0 h | 6.7 h | 5.0 h | 4.0 h | 3.3 h |
| 2,500 | 31.3 h | 25.0 h | 16.7 h | 12.5 h | 10.0 h | 8.3 h |
| 5,000 | 62.5 h | 50.0 h | 33.3 h | 25.0 h | 20.0 h | 16.7 h |
| 10,000 | 125.0 h | 100.0 h | 66.7 h | 50.0 h | 40.0 h | 33.3 h |
| 20,000 | 250.0 h | 200.0 h | 133.3 h | 100.0 h | 80.0 h | 66.7 h |
| 50,000 | 625.0 h | 500.0 h | 333.3 h | 250.0 h | 200.0 h | 166.7 h |
| 100,000 | 1,250.0 h | 1,000.0 h | 666.7 h | 500.0 h | 400.0 h | 333.3 h |
Chart: weeks to finish by stitch count and daily stitching time
Each cell is the number of weeks for the stitches in its row when you stitch every day for the time in its column, at one hundred and fifty stitches an hour with no buffer.
| Stitching time on a stitching day | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stitches in the project | 0.5 h | 1 h | 2 h | 3 h |
| 1,000 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| 2,500 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.8 |
| 5,000 | 9.5 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 1.6 |
| 10,000 | 19.0 | 9.5 | 4.8 | 3.2 |
| 20,000 | 38.1 | 19.0 | 9.5 | 6.3 |
| 50,000 | 95.2 | 47.6 | 23.8 | 15.9 |
| 100,000 | 190.5 | 95.2 | 47.6 | 31.7 |
Used by
- Cross stitch time calculatorHow long a cross stitch project takes at your own pace.