Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

How to Stop a Single Stitch in Cross Stitch

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Sometimes a cross stitch pattern will have a single stitch of one color by itself, which makes it tricky to anchor the thread on the back so the stitch will stay where it need to be.

Faby Reilly has a great tutorial that shows how to secure a single stitch before and after stitching it, in a way that actually looks pretty good on the back.

Once you know this technique you can use it to secure other stitching, too. I love the idea of using it to reinforce beads so they will stay where you want them.

Head to Faby Reilly to get all the details.

[Photo: Faby Reilly.]

Have you read?

Designer Spotlight: Inkspire Studio Shops

Inkspire Studio Shops offers cross stitch patterns as well as tons of different stitch minders, scissor charms and thread organization tools. 

We’ll get to all that, but since we’re mostly here for the patterns, let’s start there. 

All of the patterns are in one category (called Inkspire Originals if you’re following along). There are a lot of book-themed projects and more of the designs are bookmarks than anything else. You’ll find trope bookmarks, a Reading Rainbow themed design, flowers and a super cute watercolor set bookmark, to name a few. 

And while the book themed projects are by far the most numerous, I wanted to share this super cute pile of vintage Pyrex style bowls. I love the colors on this one and it should be easy to stitch because so much of it is blocks (or bowls) of a single color. This one is only available as a printed pattern, but most of them are digital. 

It calls for six colors and comes out 5.6 by 6.9 inches, or 14.2 by 17.5 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric. 

In addition to the bookmarks and book themed projects you’ll find a few kitchen projects and some Halloween and Christmas designs as well. 

But what this shop is really about is needle minders, and there are tons of them, with all kinds of themes ranging from introverted and snarky to animal themes, food and beverages, retro designs and religious and inspiring needle minders. 

If you don’t know about needle minders, these are acrylic with magnets. You stick a magnet to the back of your work, add the needle minder to the front of the work, and then it holds your sewing needle when you’re not stitching. No need for piercing your fabric or losing your needle between stitching sessions. 

She also makes charms you can attach to your scissors (or use as a stitch marker if you’re a knitter or crocheter), inventory and project trackers and bags large and small to hold works in progress and other supplies. She’s also got a great collection of vintage cross stitch patterns and kits, so check out all the fun goodies at Inkspired Studio Shops. 

[Photo: Inkspire Studio Shops]