Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

All About Cross Stitch Hoops

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One of the tools that I consider essential for most cross stitchers is an embroidery hoop, but I know it’s not really essential.

A lot of the stitching I have been doing lately has been on really small projects where I feel like having a hoop involved would just get in the way and make the project take longer. (Of course having a small hoop to work in would eliminate that problem, but I just saved myself a trip to the store.)

Hoops are great for holding the fabric flat and at a good tension that makes stitching easier, especially when you’re working on a big project. They can be good for beginners especially because they give you a little more stability that can be comforting.

But I feel like it’s also becoming more popular for people to do what’s called stitching in hand, which is just what it sounds like. Instead of using a hoop you hold the project in your hand to stitch. This gives the stitcher more flexibility and control and is good if you like to move around the fabric rather than stitching one section of the project at a time.

If you want to know more about stitching in hand or what kinds of hoops you should consider if you don’t want to work that way, check out this post from the Fat Quarter Shop blog. It’s got links to videos that talk about these issues maybe in more depth than you’ve ever considered them before.

At the beginning of the year it’s great to think about the way you do things and whether there might be a different and possibly better way to try. If you’ve never stitched without a hoop before (or if you’ve never stitched with a hoop!) maybe it’s time to try the other way and see if you like it.

If you have a strong preference for hoops or for stitching in hand, I’d love to hear why you work the way you do!

[Photo: Fat Quarter Shop]

Have you read?

Stitch a Banjo Playing Opossum Because Why Not?

I started writing this one as a designer spotlight kind of post, and then I realized when I was almost done with it that I had actually featured this designer before. It was in late 2024, so I’ll forgive myself for forgetting, but it’s worth taking another look at Mama Witch Cross Stitch. It looks like the shop has changed a bit since the last time I looked in, and you all just needed to see this amazing pattern anyway. 

In the listing this one is called “whimsical opossum,” because of course it is. This little creature is sporting a straw hat and playing a banjo next to a crock of moonshine and surrounded by a wreath of pumpkins, mushrooms and other fall icons. Clicking through the images, though, I see it’s also called Possum Song, which is also pretty great. 

Either way, the design is 144 by 130 stitches, which comes out to 10.29 by 9.29 inches, or about 26 by 23.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

This is not the only possum pattern offered by this shop, but you get the vibe from this one. 

And to quickly check in on the rest of the shop, there are a great number of Halloween themed cross stitch patterns here, too, many with a sort of dark whimsy like mermaid skeletons, cat witches and a pumpkin-headed rider on a skeleton unicorn, to name just a few. 

Another category worth noting, though it is much smaller, is “sad Victorian ghosts,” which features ghosts (sometimes in Victorian garb, sometimes not) going to the pub and the library, hanging laundry and taking a bath. 

There are also a lot of Christmas designs, some sweet and some snarky, and a few creepy ones, too. Other categories include the new for 2026 “sunny patterns” (similar style motifs just with brighter colors and lighter backgrounds), as well as bookmarks and mini cross stitch designs. 

[Photo: Mama Witch Cross Stitch]