How to Store Embroidery Needles

I have a complicated relationship with my embroidery needles. Which is a fancy way of saying I don’t really take care of my needles at all. Even though I know I have embroidery needles to use for cross stitch and sewing, needles that are certainly still in their packages, I can rarely find them when I need them.

So when I saw this post from Crewel Ghoul about how to store your embroidery needles, it hit close to home for me.

It doesn’t really say anything I didn’t already know, but it is good advice that might also serve as a reminder for you to take better care of your needles when you cross stitch or do other hand-sewing projects so that you’ll be able to find your needles again when you need them.

It would help me a lot if I had a dedicated place to keep needles I’m not using, including the needles that are still in their packages from when I bought them. You’d think I would keep them with my embroidery floss but apparently you would be mistaken about that.

Another good idea for me is to have a place to put needles I’ve been using when I am done with them. Because goodness knows I’m not going to put them back in the package. (Which may actually be a good thing because then I know which one I’ve been using and which ones are fresh. Not that I replace my needles regularly, but still.) I own pincushions but I don’t really use them for anything, which is silly.

Check out the post at Crewel Ghoul to see all the options available for storing your embroidery needles properly. I’d love to hear what you do, especially if you have a better system than I do (which, honestly, would be any system at all).

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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Tips for Stitching a Large Cross Stitch Project

This post is inspired by a post I saw over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch about why small cross stitch patterns are great, but I can tell you my own stories of cross stitching woes, too.

I have always been a fan of small projects because I just don’t have that much stamina when it comes to cross stitch (or much else). I feel like an hour of knitting or crocheting gets you a lot more to show for your time than an hour of cross stitch, especially when you’re working on a complicated project.

Which is why a project I started for my daughter probably more than a year ago is still unrecognizable as its subject because I’ve barely done any work on it. (I’d like it to be done either for her birthday in September or for Christmas, so I’d better get over my big-project issues and get to stitching.)

The post covers a lot of reasons to love small projects, including that they are light on your budget (both monetary and time wise). It also looks at the basic supplies you need for projects big or small and gives you lots of ideas for how to use small cross stitch projects as decor or to make into gifts.

There are also tips for success when working on small projects. You might think it’s fine to rush but attention to detail is super important when you’re working on a small scale because a misplaced stitch or two can really make a difference when there are relatively few stitches in your project to start with.

Check out the post over at Caterpillar Cross Stitch, and let me know what you love about small cross stitch patterns. Or if you’re a fan of the epic projects, let me know that, too. Maybe you’ll convince me to give it more of a try!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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