How to Finish off Thread on a Cross Stitch Project

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]

Next Pattern:

Have You Ever Used a Colonial Knot?

Non Stop Stitch is an Etsy shop based in Ukraine with a dizzying quantity and variety of cross stitch patterns.

They tend to the cute/whimsical and colorful, with lots of flowers, animals, fantasy designs and some classic Ukraine inspired motifs.

How about this super sweet Ukrainian boy and girl design? With folk inspired clothing and adorable animals, these characters can be stitched together on one piece or separately. The images were designed by Nadiia Nagorna. The boy measures 50 by 96 and uses 22 colors and blends, while the girl is 62 by 94 stitches and uses 27 colors and blends.

Both projects involve full and half cross stitches, as well as backstitch and French knots. They are classified as intermediate patterns.

The largest category on the site is Christmas patterns, with more than 200 options, ranging from cute animals to ornaments, Santas, snowmen and more. There are also plenty of patterns for both Easter and Halloween if you like seasonal stitches.

In addition you’ll find lots of animal designs, from bears and foxes to cats and dogs, mice and elephants, birds, bunnies and bugs. And extensive flowers and plants section includes pretty bouquet cross stitch patterns, stitched wreaths and seasonal scenes, as well as food cross stitch patterns, like a swag of chili peppers, mushrooms on a postage stamp, persimmons and cherries.

The fantasy and magic category leans heavy on whimsy with cute dragons, a one-eyed monster with dragonfly wings, a mermaid listening to music, and a green bearded river spirit covered in lily pads.

And that’s not even to mention other sections like food and drinks, houses and landscapes, lighthouses, people/babies/dolls and more. There’s so much to choose from there’s no way to really categorize it all, so why don’t you head over to Non Stop Stitch and do some scrolling. I’d love to hear if you make one of their patterns!

[Photo: Non Stop Stitch]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?