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I've never done this very accurately before and wondering if anyone has any good tricks.
If I am stitching on 18 ct, full crosses, a straight run of about 5" How much thread will that use? Do I double it, and use a piece 10" long. Is it 1.5 times the length.. so cut a piece 7.5" long? Is it longer.. like 12-14"
I usually just cut.. oh about that much off a spool. It's different every time, never really very accurate, just a length that looks good. Sometimes its only 3-4" if it doesn't look like I color I need very much of, sometimes its 12-18". I've never tried to figure it out before. Has anyone else?

Good question. I have never tried to figure it out. I always use the same length, except when using black DMC on my LOTR because it seems to knot up terribly. I would love to know if anyone has figured this out. I often end up with having to rethread because i am a few stitches short.

Carole

Hmmmm, I'd assume this is hard to calculate as it'll depend on your tension, and how you start and finish threads.

hope this helps this is how i do it
so say for 25 count fabric
25(count) 150(stitch amount) ( get the stitches amount by multiplying the fabric count by 6.14 )
so 1 meter length on 25 count roughly makes 150 stitches

this is for 1 meter length
one dmc skein contains 313'' or 795 cm thread
hope i explained it lol

I never cut my lengths of thread based on how much area I have to stitch. My skeins are each kept in floss bags, and the length I cut is 3 lengths of the skein, about 15 in. I used to do 4 lengths, but it seemed to get too frayed or thin, so I only use that length once in a while. Anyway, I tried keeping track the other day, and on 18 ct, doing one large area of one color, I got about 45 full crosses with a 3 length piece, and 65 crosses with a 4 length piece. When I don't use the full piece of thread, I just toss the remainder in the floss bag and use it the next time when I need that color.

I've never even thought about it. I just cut about a 12" piece because that's the length I'm comfortable with.
I keep any left over thread in a baggie for future use if it's: a) a useable length and b) if it's still in good shape. And yes, sometimes I run out and have to re-thread to finish a run. That can be frustrating if there is only a few stitches to do.
But I'm a simple person and lousy at math. I would get tied up in knots, (like the thread ) if I tried to calculate how much thread to cut for any given straight run.