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How to Finish off Thread on a Cross Stitch Project

October 22, 2024 by Sarah White

I’m usually not all that interested in making the back of my cross stitch projects very clean. I know it’s a nice thing to do, but I tie knots in my threads when I start stitching, and sometimes I’ll tie a knot at the end, too.

There are times when you might want to have a neater back to your work, or if you’re just the kind of person who likes to have a clean back even if it isn’t going to show, you might want a method other than tying knots to finish off your thread on a cross stitch project to make it nice and smooth.

Caterpillar Cross Stitch has a great video all about different ways to finish your cross stitch thread that will make your back clean and your stitches secure.

When I’m not tying knots I generally will weave in my ends on the back of the work, but did you know you can also weave in ends with the front of the work facing you? This is super helpful if you’re working on a big project in a frame or stand that can’t easily be flipped over to see the back of the work.

That’s one of the methods she talks about, but she also talks about parking thread so you can stitch over it later, the loop method and the pin stitch method (which is super clever and could be used at the beginning of a thread section as well as the end).

I don’t know that I’ll adopt any of these methods for my own projects since weaving works just fine for my purposes, but I’d love to know if you have used any of these methods and how they work for you. Are you team clean back or do you care as little as I do? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Check out the video from Caterpillar Cross Stitch on YouTube.

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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Designer Spotlight: Curious Carrie Designs

If you like seasonal samplers and cross stitch patterns with a primitive twist, you’ll enjoy the collection from Curious Carrie Designs.

You’ll find alphabet designs, biscornu, patriotic projects and more. The summer category is the largest on the storefront, with Americana and floral designs. There are also categories for the other seasons and more general designs.

One of my favorites is this pretty sunflower cross stitch pattern, which is shown styled as a biscornu but it wouldn’t have to be. The pattern features sunflowers and bees and a little beehive. It uses 12 colors of floss and each side of the pattern is 51 by 51 stitches, which comes out to 3.64 inches or 9.2 cm square.

I love the fabric she used for the sample, which she actually dyed purple herself, but it would also be pretty on a purchased light blue or other color if you don’t want to dye your own.

There’s also a whole set of themed biscornu with a four letter word on one side (crow, home, love and snow, to name a few) along with a seasonal pattern on the other side.

The shop has a rather small selection at around 90 patterns as of this writing, but it’s a nice collection of traditional looking designs heavy on samplers and biscornu designs, so if those are things you like you’ll want to be sure to check it out. Visit Curious Carrie Designs on Etsy to see all her pretty designs.

Are you a designer or do you have a favorite cross stitch designer who hasn’t made it into the spotlight yet? (You can see all the featured designers in the craft businesses category on the page.) Let me know in the comments, or you can submit more detailed information by clicking on “suggest a craft” at the center top of the page.

[Photo: Curious Carrie Designs]

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