What this is

FlossForge is a place to design counted cross-stitch patterns. You draw on a grid where every square is one stitch, choose colors that map to threads you can buy, and when the design is finished you print a chart with a thread key and stitch from it.

What you can do

• Draw stitch by stitch with a brush, an eraser, a fill, select areas to copy, cut and paste. Mirroring repeats each stroke across the middle of the grid.
• Turn a picture into stitches: remove its background, choose its size and how many thread colors to use, and place it on the canvas.
• Add text in a pixel font or the fonts on your computer, with an outline if you like.
• Pick colors from the DMC range, or pick any color and see the closest DMC thread, and generate palettes that build on the colors already in your design.
• Keep parts of a design on separate layers so each can be hidden or moved on its own.
• Export a PDF pattern with a cover, a thread key with skein counts and a symbol chart.

What you need

A recent version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a laptop or desktop. The editor wants a mouse or a trackpad and a screen at least a thousand pixels wide, so a phone is not a good fit.

An account. Sign-up is by invitation at the moment; see Accounts and invites.

Where next

Your first pattern walks through the whole thing once, from a blank grid to a PDF. After that the guide covers each part in more depth, and the reference lists every key and menu.