Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Do You Use a Needle Minder?

by

magnetic needle holder

After talking about waxing embroidery floss the other day, I got to thinking about other accessories or things that are optional but could potentially save you a lot of trouble when you’re doing cross stitch.

Another thing that falls into that category is a magnetic needle minder.

As you might guess from the name, these little gadgets stick to your cross stitch fabric by way of a magnet, then you can stick your needle to the top of the needle minder when you aren’t working so it won’t wander off/fall into the couch cushions when you aren’t working.

There are a lot of really cute needle minders out there these days. Swoodson Says has a fun collection of needle minders on her site you can browse, or search for them in your favorite place for indie crafts.

Do you use needle minders? Have a favorite kind? We’d love to hear all about it.

[Photo via Swoodson Says.]

Looking for more Fall-themed Cross-stitch patterns and charts? Check these out on Etsy.

Comments

  1. I have never heard of a need minder. I’m so glad you mentioned it. I might just have to pick up one. I’ve been itching to embroider something lately…

  2. I’ve been cross stitching for decades but didn’t discover needle minders until recently (as in less than a year ago). I am absolutely hooked and have 4 currently. I’m always on the look out for more and I want to start getting into making them. The hard part for me is finding the right materials and pairing that with the right magnets.

Have you read?

Pencil Cross Stitch Patterns

Last year I shared my cute pencil cross stitch bookmark pattern, so I thought this year maybe I would look for more pencil cross stitch patterns to celebrate back to school or the writer in your life. 

If you’re looking for a fancier version of a pencil bookmark, check out this pretty one from Embrovera. It has pretty flowers and hearts around the pencil with a stitched border. It measures 27 by 86 stitches and comes out to 1.9 by 6.1 inches, or 4.9 by 15.6 cm, stitched on 14 count fabric. 

Speaking of flowers, there’s also this floral pencil cross stitch design from Oh My Stitches Shop. The pencil is black on this one but you could make it any color you like. It measures 37 by 102 stitches and uses 17 colors. On 14 count fabric it is 2.36 by 7.08 inches, or 6.71 by 18.5 cm. 

If you want to stitch a pencil that’s a cute teacher gift for back to school, try this one from Daily Cross Stitch, which features a pencil stretched into a heart shape and a heart shaped eraser. It calls for 11 colors and is 65 by 52. On 14 count fabric that comes to 4.64 by 3.71 inches, or 11.78 by 9.42 cm. 

There’s also this cute chubby pencil with the word learn from Stitch Gallery PDF that would be cute for a teacher (or a homeschool classroom). It looks like it uses five colors and the designer suggests using a piece of fabric that’s around 7 inches/17.6 cm square for this project. 

How about a teeny tiny pencil cross stitch pattern? This one from Bella Rose Craft also includes a wee apple design, and these mini patterns would be cute as a necklace or keychain charm. And at 7 by 13 stitches you can finish this one up in no time. 

Stitch the pencil alone or with this cute collection of school supplies that includes a glue bottle, crayons and calculator. The pattern is from sosacaetano, and it would be so cute for a classroom or stitched on a card. The full design as show is 6 by 1.75 inches (15.24 by 4.44 cm) on 14 count fabric.