Click the grid to add or remove stitches —
Type a word. Watch it stitch itself.
Stitchwork is a free generative type experiment that turns any text into counted cross-stitch. Your words are sampled onto a stitch grid and every filled square becomes a literal X of floss — two crossing threads with a sheen along the top ply — worked on woven aida cloth. Switch to half stitch and the same word is worked in tent stitch, a single diagonal per square, the way shading and backgrounds are stitched in real needlework.
It's part of a series by Abby Merz exploring where craft and digital design share a skeleton: the grid. Cross-stitch, filet crochet, rhinestone transfers, and pixels are all the same idea — an image built one unit at a time. Its siblings are Meshwork, which works text into filet crochet lace, and Dotwork, which sets it in rhinestones and pearls. Its ancestor is Gridlace, a lace-inspired pixel serif font family.
Type anything in 01 – Text (line breaks welcome). Choose the sans or serif, or upload your own OTF, TTF, or WOFF — fonts are processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded anywhere. Set the stitch count, ink pickup, and thread weight in 02 – Grid, pick your floss and aida colors in 03 – Floss, and dial in the hand-stitched wobble, aida weave, and thread shading in 04 – Finish. Click or drag on the cloth to add and remove stitches by hand, exactly like correcting a counted chart. Export gives you a print-quality PNG.
The grid is a genuine counted chart: one square is one stitch, and the readout gives you a live stitch count for estimating floss and fabric. Chart a name, a phrase, a monogram or a sampler border, then work it square by square on 14-count aida. The same chart reads just as well for needlepoint, perler beads, knitting colorwork, or filet crochet — every grid craft speaks the same language.
Stitchwork is free. Exports are yours for personal and creative projects — a credit or link back is always appreciated. Fonts you upload stay on your device, and the words you type aren't stored anywhere.
Made by Abby Merz — portfolio · posters at MERZ Print Co · Meshwork · Dotwork