This is one of the questions I receive via e-mail quite often, and I figured I may as well put it on the website, just in case there are other stitchers out there wondering the same thing.

How do you embroider the little red cross that is traditionally found on most church altar linens? Normally, this cross is quite small and is actually cross stitched. While it doesn’t have to be cross-stitched, and while it doesn’t have to follow this pattern, this is a typical pattern that is very neat and tidy, tiny, and pretty, and it serves its purpose well.

The small red cross that marks church linens serves a couple purposes: one, it obviously marks the piece of linen for sacred use – it is used for religious rites; and two, it marks the correct side or area of the linen, for folding purposes.

So if you embroider church linens and have wondered how to stitch up a decent little cross on them, this is the pattern I regularly use and it works out very nicely every time.