How and Why to Make a Needle Book

I have to admit that I am not at all careful when it comes to storing my needles for cross stitch, embroidery and hand sewing. Sometimes I will put them back in the package they came in, but just as often I’ll leave them on my desk when I’m done with them, leaving me with no real idea where my needles are when I need them.

The good news is there’s a crafty way to solve this problem and it’s making a needle book.

A needle book can be as simple as a piece of felt folded in half that you stick your needles in for storage, but of course we are crafters, so it’s likely we’re going to want to do a little bit more than that.

I came across a good tutorial from Crewel Ghoul recently that should give you some ideas for how to make and embellish your own needle book.

Hers is made with a couple of sheets of felt but the embellishment really makes it something special. She’s stitched on some ducks and flowers on the front cover, and inside the pockets are made from a vintage handkerchief and some lace, embellished with more stitching.

The outside is finished with blanket stitch and a button closure.

Of course you don’t have to make yours in the same way. You can use leftover bits of fabric in your stash, vintage elements, a favorite button. Use embroidery or cross stitch to decorate the front of the book, or make a collage out of fabric. You could embroider your initials or do a sampler of different stitches. Just whatever sounds fun to you!

Check out the post at Crewel Ghoul to see how it all comes together. Do you have a needle book? Did this inspire you to want to make one? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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]

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