All about Cross-Stitch Needles

I do cross stitch from time to time, but I haven’t ever given much thought to the supplies I use to do it. I have always used whatever I happened to have access to, including whatever needle was nearby.

That means I’ve done cross stitch with sewing needles, and with blunt needles meant for yarn, too.

But did you know there are different kinds of needles that are just for cross stitch and embroidery?

Tapestry needles are the needles that are made for working cross stitch and embroidery, and just like my yarn needle, they aren’t sharp, though tapestry needles meant for cross stitch are smaller than the ones used to seam knitting or crochet projects.

In fact there’s a range of sizes, and it’s best to use different needles depending on the size of fabric you’re using. Which makes sense, because different sized fabric has slightly different sized holes for the needle to go through.

Gathered has a great guide to tapestry needle sizes, but in general as the count of the fabric goes up, the number size of the needle also goes up, but that means that the needle itself is getting smaller. So for example for working on 14 count fabric you’d want to use a size 24 needle, whereas for 16 count fabric you’d use a 26, which is actually a little smaller.

Larger holes in your cross stitch fabric can accommodate larger needles, and if you’re stitching on something like burlap you can use a large needle like my yarn needle. When stitching on fabric instead of cross-stitch cloth, you’ll want to use a smaller needle or go to a sharper sewing needle if you’re having trouble piercing the fabric (which may happen if you’re stitching on a thick fabric).

Do you pay attention to the type of needle you use when you cross stitch? Have you found there’s a difference when working with different fabrics? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Stitched Modern.]

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35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

The other day I shared some cross stitch patterns with ornaments on them, so this time around I wanted to share cross stitch patterns that you can use as ornaments. It would be fun to do a whole tree in your craft room with cross stitch ornaments, or just add a few to your tree or give them as gifts.

These little quilt inspired cross stitch patterns from Flamingo Toes look like ornaments and fit in 3-inch hoops, which are perfect for hanging on the tree or using to decorate a gift. I love the pastel colors on these but you can use more traditional Christmas colors if you like.

This cute Christmas tree from Lagodargetoshop uses a single color and fits in a 4-inch hoop, but you could make it smaller if you wanted by trimming the last ornaments and gifts from the sides, or just stitch the tree without any other embellishments. Either way it’s a cute addition to your holiday tree.

Stitched Modern has a super cute collection of retro Christmas ornament cross stitch patterns from designer Gera. This is a printed pattern that will be shipped to you. Each pattern is about 40 by 56 stitches, or 2.9 by 4 inches/7.4 by 10 cm on 14 count fabric. To work the whole set you’ll need 20 colors of floss.

These snowflake ornaments from Our Little Handmade Home are each about 2.5 inches/6.4 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric, and they use a single color of floss. They are pretty in red but you could also do white on a blue or black background, or whatever suits your other Christmas tree decorations!

From the description it sounds like this set of vintage style cross stitch characters is presented as one large chart, but the photo from Sampler Antique Stitch shows each of them stitched up as their own little ornament, so it gets included here. You’ll find Santa and snowmen in different poses in this cute collection.

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