Tips for Traveling with Cross Stitch

As a person who is mostly in the knitting world, it comes up fairly often that people will have questions about traveling with knitting and whether knitting needles and other supplies are allowed on airplanes. (The answer is generally yes, but it’s somewhat up to the discretion of the flight agents whether items are truly allowed.)

I haven’t heard a lot of people question whether cross stitch supplies are allowed on planes, though sewing needles are generally sharper than knitting needles. As far as I know there’s nowhere you can travel by plane that wouldn’t allow you to carry sewing needles. Scissors may be a different story.

The rules in America are that scissors shorter than 4 inches/10 cm from the pivot point (where the two blades join) are allowed in carry on luggage, and scissors of any length are allowed in checked bags. In the UK the measure is 6 cm, or about 2.5 inches.

One rule that trips some people up in the States is the fact that while scissors are allowed, cutting tools that include blades are not allowed in carry on luggage. Those thread cutters that look like pendants? Technically not allowed. I guess the idea is they could be taken apart and then you’ve got a blade. So your best bet is to stick with small scissors or even fingernail clippers on the plane.

Caterpillar Cross Stitch goes into greater detail about how to travel with cross stitch supplies, alternatives to scissors, tips for packing and what to do if an agent confiscates your supplies. They’ve also got tips for the things you might want to include in your travel cross stitch kit and etiquette tips to ensure your stitching doesn’t annoy other passengers.

Have you ever traveled by plane with your cross stitch or embroidery? I’d love to know if you have any tips to add to this collection! Check out the post at Caterpillar Cross Stitch for all the details.

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

Have you read?