The needle is easy to overlook, it’s the smallest thing in your kit, but the wrong one can make a project harder than it needs to be. This guide pulls together everything on the site about choosing, using, and looking after your cross stitch needles.
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.
Needle size and brand make more of a difference than most stitchers expect, and getting it right from the start saves a lot of frustration with fabric snagging or thread splitting.
Start with what size cross stitch needle you need, then what’s the best cross stitch needle for you if you want a fuller comparison. Who makes the best cross stitch needles covers the brand side, and why embroidery needles are given random size numbers explains the numbering system that confuses almost everyone at first.
Standard tapestry needles cover most projects, but there are a few variations worth knowing about, especially if you’re blending threads or working with delicate fabric.
Why you should try gold plated needles and whether pony black needles are better than gold both look at needle finishes. If you’re blending threads, double eye tapestry needles are worth a look, and why you should use multiple types of needles makes the case for not settling on just one.
Threading a needle sounds simple until you’re doing it for the fiftieth time in one sitting, and knowing when to retire an old needle matters more than most people realize.
Self threading needles, are they worth it and needle threaders both tackle the threading problem from different angles. There are two eyes to every needle is a small trick worth knowing, and time to ditch that old cross stitch needle covers the signs a needle needs replacing.
Loose needles have a habit of disappearing entirely or turning up somewhere they shouldn’t. A bit of organization goes a long way.
How to properly store cross stitch needles covers the basics, and how to store needle tubes looks at keeping the packaging itself under control.
A needle minder keeps your needle safe and visible mid-project, and there’s a surprisingly large world of options out there once you start looking.
How to find a perfect needle minder and how to make a needle minder cover buying versus making your own. The crazy world of needle minders shows just how far the hobby has taken this, and if you hate needle minders, there is a solution for anyone who’s never gotten on with them.
If you’re curious about where your needle actually came from, this is for you.
How cross stitch needles are made and the surprisingly interesting history of the cross stitch needle both go behind the scenes of the humble needle.
There are a lot of advantages to using a needle minder, from saving you losing needles and keeping things tiny to just adding a bit of interest to your stitching space. But do you really need to buy a needle minder? We don't think so. In fact, you can make a whole variety of needle…
Cross stitch needles have two different eyes. And we don't just mean those double eyed cross stitch needles either, one side of the cross stitch needle is slightly more open than the other. Let us explain. How They're Made We're not going to go into a lot of detail here, but we will talk about…
Considering we use them so much, cross stitch needles or tapestry needles to give them their rightful name, are staples for our craft. Therefore, when I spoke about the best types of cross stitch needles in a previous post, I thought I had all of them covered. For a while, I thought there were no…
We like needles here, and as a result its probably no surprise that we've come across gold plated needles before. In fact, we even mentioned them in our post about choosing the perfect cross stitch needle for you. However, a lot of people are skeptical of gold plated needles. There's a good reason for this;…