Beyond fabric, thread, and a needle, the right equipment makes stitching easier, more comfortable, and in some cases just more fun. This guide pulls together everything on the site about the hoops, scissors, and accessories worth having in your kit.
Every post tagged below covers some part of this topic, newest first. If you want a specific answer right away, start with the sections below.
A good pair of scissors matters more than most stitchers realize, and the right pair for your workbench isn’t always the right pair for travel.
Start with the best cross stitch scissors for the full comparison, then the best cross stitch travel scissors if you stitch on the go. Finding the right cross stitch scissors covers what to actually look for, and frogging made easy with curve tipped scissors is worth a read before your next unpicking session.
Hoops do more than just hold your fabric taut, they’re also one of the most personalized pieces of equipment a stitcher owns, right down to how you choose to display them once a piece is finished.
Wood hoops, plastic hoops, spring hoops, which is best covers the main options, and should you cross stitch without a hoop and do you actually need to remove your cross stitch from the hoop both challenge assumptions most stitchers don’t question. For display, a better way to display a hoop and how to decorate embroidery hoops for framing are both worth a look, and the pink double hoop cross stitch ring donut is a fun example of how far hoop design has come.
Good lighting and the right magnification can be the difference between an evening of relaxed stitching and one spent squinting at fine aida.
Are magnifiers worth it for cross stitch and do daylight bulbs actually make a difference both look at whether these upgrades are worth the money.
Keeping a project protected and portable matters just as much once you’re away from your usual stitching spot.
Cross stitch project bags covers what to look for when you want your work to travel safely.
I recently won the best miniature cross stitch in the National Needlecraft Awards this year with my miniature traditional pirate samplers and as a result I won a fancy magnifying light. This was the first one I ever got, and whilst it gave me loads of ideas for miniature cross stitch, I didn't realize the…
Everyone knows that you shouldn't keep your cross stitch in a hoop... but it that actually true? Over the last 6 months, I've been testing out different cross stitch frames ad leaving aida in them for seriously long periods of time. Just to see, what happens. And the answer is actually a little complicated.…
As an independent website, we don't promote one brand over another, however today we're making a slight exception. Not due to the fact that one brand is better, but there only appears to be one brand. In fact, it appears the tool I want to talk about today seems to be very niche; however, I…
Title: Pink Ring Donut Date Completed: September 2018 Design: Lord Libidan Count: 14 Canvas: Ecru (Double hoop) Colors: 5 Reference: Donuts After the success of my micro cassette cross stitch keyrings for issue 5 of the Xstitch Mag I didn't submit anything for issue 6. The reason, was I had an idea for issue…