Cross Stitch for Left-Handed People

As a knitter, I know that there can be a big difference in how handcrafts work depending on which hand is dominant for you. My daughter is left-handed, too, so I have to think about this when I’m teaching her things, to not automatically show her the “right-handed way” to do things and to give her time and space to figure out how to do things most easily for her. Which should really be the goal regardless of who you are teaching, but that’s another issue.

She did some hand sewing earlier this week, though she hasn’t yet tried cross stitch, and the only difference I can see is that she holds the needle in her left hand and holds the fabric in her right.

I did some poking around on the Internet looking for information on left-handed cross stitch, and, as I suspected, there’s not really a difference other than how you hold the needle. While many stitchers start from the center of a chart, lefties might find it easier to start at the top left and work their way across from left to right and top to bottom.

Are you a left-handed cross stitcher? Is there anything else you find different or any tips that helped you when learning to stitch? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Seasoned Cross Stitchers: What Do You Wish You Knew…

I don’t know why it still surprises me that there are cross stitch patterns available for almost anything you can think of. I wasn’t looking for pool themed cross stitch patterns, but in scrolling around Etsy looking more generally for summer cross stitch patterns, I found a lot of pool patterns so I figured I should share them.

I love the colors in these designs, almost as cool as sliding into the pool on a hot day.

The first one I found was Pool Party by Milky Stitch. It features someone lounging in the pool, someone lounging next to the pool, and some fun accessories you might need for a day at the pool. It uses 20 colors and was designed for 11 count fabric, which means it comes out to 12.2 by 8.2 inches, or 31 by 21 cm.

Pastel Pool from Stitch Me Good Designs looks like it would fit right in with Pool Party on a gallery wall. This one uses seven colors and 14 count fabric and fits in a 7-inch hoop.

Speaking of gallery walls, if you want a room full of summer sun and pool themed cross stitch, check out this trifecta of pool designs from Craft Bundle Lab. There’s a women floating in a pool with a large hat, a float in a pool and several floats and pool toys in another pool with a fun checkerboard bottom. Each design uses 12 colors and they are about 14.6 inches/37 cm square worked on 14-count fabric.

This designs from Cross Stitchers United shows three people floating in a pool in different ways. This one has cross stitched water, or you can stitch it on blue fabric and save yourself some time. As shown it uses nine colors and is 94 by 94 stitches, which is 6.7 inches or 17 cm square on 14-count fabric.

The Swimmers in a Pool cross stitch pattern from Thread Nova Studios is delightful. It’s stitched with everyone wearing red suits, but you could change up some of them — or even just one of them — to change the look of the project. This one uses 14 colors and is 200 by 200 stitches. That’s about 14.3 inches/36.3 cm on 14 count fabric, though the pattern includes sizing for other stitch counts, too.

And finally the pool pattern from The Lady at Home just makes you wish you could jump right into it. The pool with floats looks super inviting, and it is stitched on 14-count fabric with a finished size of 5 by 7 inches/12.7 by 17.8 cm.

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