FAQs about Cross Stitch, Answered

One of the great things about cross stitch as a craft is that it doesn’t take a lot of skill or supplies to get started. You can make your first cross stitch patterns with a single color of thread, using a single kind of stitch, with fabric that’s easy to find, with or without a hoop. The learning curve is pretty small, and you’re only out a few dollars and a little bit of time to learn the basics and see if you like it.

But if you’re new to cross stitch or thinking about starting cross stitch as a new craft in your life, you might have some questions that patterns just don’t answer, either because they assume you know these things or the answer isn’t long enough to fill out a blog post.

Hannah Hand Makes has collected 20 of these sorts of questions into an FAQ about cross stitch that would be handy for you to read.

It covers everything from the difference between Aida and evenweave to what size needle you should use for cross stitch. You’ll find information on where to buy kits and supplies, the difference between counted cross stitch, stamped cross stitch and embroidery, how to cross stitch a photo, cross stitching on clothes and more.

(She’s even got an opinion on how much you should care about how messy the back of your work is. Spoiler: not much. I totally agree! It’s not worth it to try to make the back pretty unless its going to be visible in the finished product.)

Even if you’re pretty comfortable with cross stitch it’s worth it to skim through these FAQs, because you might just learn something or have your opinion about a cross stitch topic confirmed.

Check out the list at Hannah Hand Makes.

[Photo: Hannah Hand Makes]

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

Have you read?