1. Make a cross stitch for each symbol shown on the chart. Bring the needle up in the bottom left corner of the square and take it down in the top right. You now have a half cross. Bring your needle up again in the bottom right corner of the square and push it down in the top left. This is a cross stitch. Work each stitch in the same order each time. When you need to work a row, make a line of half crosses and turn back to complete each cross in the line. Catch the thread end on the back under your first few stitches to secure it.

2. If you see a small version of a symbol printed in the corner of a square on the chart you need to make a three-quarter stitch. This is a half cross combined with a tiny quarter stitch that runs from one corner of the square and stops in the middle. You need to pierce the aida fabric to make your own hole here. Where two different symbols share the same square, you need to make a three-quarter stitch in one colour and a quarter stitch in the other.

3. Backstitch outlines are added on top when all the other stitching is complete to create extra detail or highlight an area of the design. Bring the needle up at 1, down at 2, up at 3 and down at 1 again following the diagram.

4. French knots provide interesting detail on a design and are shown as a dot on the chart. Bring the needle up through the fabric, hold the thread taut in your left hand, and wrap the needle around it twice. Push the needle back into the fabric close to where it came out, keeping the thread taut. Gently pull the needle and thread through the fabric until a neat knot is formed on the front.

5. To finish off a thread, push the needle through three or four stitches on the back and snip the end close to where it emerges.