Tools for Adding Beads to Cross Stitch

It’s always fun to add a little something extra to your cross stitch patterns, regardless of whether the project actually calls for it.

One way to make a cross stitch design a little more special is to add beads. Some patterns are written for incorporating beads, but it’s always up to you if you want to add them even if the pattern doesn’t call for them. They’re fun to use for eyes, the centers of flowers, to dot the letters with dots on them or just to add decoration beyond the cross stitching.

If you’ve never worked with beads before you might be a little intimidated, but, as with most things, if you have the right tools it will make it so much easier.

I haven’t done a lot of stitching with beads (another thing to try this year!) but Kat at Catkin and Lillie has, and they’ve got a great post all about tools that will make beading on cross stitch that much easier.

I don’t want to spoil it for you because you should click over there and check out all of their suggestions for the best needles, thread and other tools, but I do want to highlight the suggestion to use invisible thread rather than regular embroidery floss when adding beads to your cross stitch.

It’s not literally invisible but it is sort of translucent and hard to see when you stitch with it. Of course that can be a negative because it’s not that easy to see while you’re stitching or if you need to fix a mistake, but it’s a great tool to use if you’re working with different colors of beads in the same project.

Head to Catkin and Lillie to find all their tips and tools to make beading cross stitch easier.

Have you ever used beads in cross stitch? I’d love to hear any tips you might have.

[Photo: Catkin and Lillie]

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35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns

I recently wrote a post on my blog about using a stitchable journal cover and I mentioned that you can make your own stitched cover for a journal by using perforated paper instead of buying a stitchable notebook.

I have to admit, though, that I’ve never used perforated paper for cross stitch myself. I definitely want to because I think it would be great to use for bookmarks that don’t fray and have a little more stability, for example.

Sirious Stitches has us covered, though, because they did a deep dive into all things perforated cross stitch pattern that is worth the time to read through.

The post mentions that a lot of people use perforated paper for cross stitch because they buy an ornament kit that uses it. I’ve never seen these (or at least never noticed that that is what they were) but it’s a great idea to make small projects like ornaments in this way. It also talks about the pros and cons of using cross stitch paper, where to buy it and how to make your own.

Making it yourself is an awesome idea because if you already have a pattern in mind you can just make holes in your paper where you need stitches to be and leave the rest solid. This would be ideal for making greeting cards, for example.

In addition to kits and sheets you can often find the paper pre-cut into different shapes you can use to make your own designs, no real pattern required.

The post also includes tips and advice for how to stitch on perforated paper that you’ll want to check out before you try your first project.

I’m super intrigued by the idea of using perforated paper for cross stitch and will probably be trying it out soon. Have you used it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Check out the post over at Sirious Stitches for more information.

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

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