Blended Threads: Creating New Floss Colors With Tweeding

If you’ve been around the cross stitch community long enough you’ve probably run into blended threads. They used to be quite frequently used in larger detailed patterns, I don’t seem to see this technique used as much nowadays except in certain pattern styles. Today though I wanted to discuss what blended threads are and how […]

17 mins read

Blending Filament – Adding Sparkle to your Embroidery Thread

Here on my site I’ve discussed a fair amount of metallic thread brands used in cross stitch. From DMC’s Mouliné Étoile to lesser known brands like Bijoux and Accentuate. You can get metallic threads in SO many different colors, and even variegated metallics! But what if instead of hoarding a pile of various colored metallic […]

15 mins read

Railroading – A simple technique for more uniform stitches

Some of you may have heard of railroading before, others likely haven’t. But what is it exactly, and how does it help your cross stitching look neater? More importantly, is it worth the extra effort? Let’s find out together! Why should you be railroading your stitches? Railroading is a technique to force your thread to […]

9 mins read

Petit Point – Similar But Different to Cross Stitch… and Smaller!

Many of us roll our eyes or giggle when we’re working on our latest cross stitch project and someone compliments us on our ‘knitting.’ It’s not terribly uncommon for those outside of the craft community to not be able to tell crochet from macrame. Cross stitch from embroidery. Maybe they haven’t even heard of petit […]

7 mins read

Beads: Accenting your Cross Stitch Projects with flair

Why Beads? There’s a few different reasons you might decide to add beads to your project. The most common reason being the pattern called for it. But that isn’t always the case! There are plenty of designers out there that love to incorporate beads into their designs. You’ve likely seen some Mirabilia or Châtelaine  designs […]

9 mins read