What Are Needle Minders and How Do You Use One?

One of the great things about cross stitching is that you can get started without a lot of supplies. Really just a bit of fabric, some embroidery floss and a needle are all that you need to try it out.

But like any craft, there are accessories and special tools that might not be essential, but they do make the work a little easier. And sometimes they can even make it a little more fun, too.

Take needle minders, for example.

I didn’t know these existed until a few years ago. I always just stabbed my needle through a couple of holes in the cross stitch fabric (ideally outside of the stitching area because that can stretch out the holes) when I wasn’t using it so I wouldn’t lose it.

But clever stitchers figured out a way to hold their needle close without damaging their fabric, and that’s a needle minder.

It’s basically a couple of magnets that you place your fabric between; then the top magnet can hold the needle while you’re not using it. You can also attach it to your paper pattern if you like instead.

Of course just using plain magnets for this is possible, but it’s not very exciting, so there are all sorts of designs of needle minders that you can buy (which we’ll get to in a minute). I’ve got an idea for making my own which I will share as soon as I try it out.

In the meantime, check out this post from Catkin and Kindle that goes into a lot more detail about how needle minders are made and different ways you can use them, as well as potential pitfalls of using them.

As for where to buy your own, I’ll probably do a whole post on that soon, too, but here are a couple of fun options from Etsy:

Caffeinated Cat Crafts has a wide variety of needle minders ranging from gnomes to a steampunk octopus, bees and ouija planchettes.
Adventure Needlework has a decided witchy/cat vibe, including needle minders of both a cat and a mushroom holding a knife.
Needles Notions and More focuses on seasonal designs including a bunny holding a carrot, candy corn and a snowman, but I really had to share this one because they have a Highland Cow needle minder!

[Photo: Catkin and Kindle]

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Tools to Make Your Cross Stitch Life Easier

Unique Stitch Crafts is a Turkish designer that has a couple of main interests in their cross stitch designs: travel and Christmas stockings.

By far the biggest category in their storefront is Christmas stockings, with more than 100 options to choose from. There are fully stitched fronts with designs classic and whimsical (like an alicorn and a pastel rainbow, or a bunny in Harlequin costume playing violin to a mushroom) and designs that just go across the cuff of the stocking. There are ornaments with a Nutcracker or Frozen theme, New York City stockings and stockings for your dinosaur.

As an example, here’s a stocking covered with mini holiday designs, which you could also use as ornaments if you wanted. The full design is 165 by 255 stitches, which comes out to 10.3 by 16 inches, or 26 by 40.6 cm on 16 count fabric. The pattern just makes the front of the stocking so you need to grab some fabric for the back of the stocking and sew it together yourself.

There’s also a large collection of travel cross stitch patterns, including national parks designs both large and mini, and travel poster style designs for many US states and cities. (There’s not an Arkansas, which is my standard test since I live there, but there is a pattern of the Mississippi River bridge in Memphis, which is technically half in Arkansas.)

If you’re more of a world traveler you’ll find more of the travel poster style designs for cities and countries, including Thailand and China, Berlin, Sydney and Marrakech.

In addition to all of that, you’ll find patterns called retro, which includes a wide range of designs, but many seem to be food and coffee related; folk art designs (lots of flowers and birds); and famous paintings translated to cross stitch. Smaller categories include Christmas, Halloween, animals, kids and castles.

Check out all the fun designs at Unique Stitch Crafts on Etsy.

[Photo: Unique Stitch Crafts]

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