There are so many fun things to search for and collect when it comes to cross stitching. All the fun dyed fabrics, the huge assortment of threads and specialty threads, beads and embellishments, not to mention the patterns. You could spend countless hours (and most of use have I’m sure) scouring your local needle shop or online stores for amazing patterns. But what about needles? These little but absolutely essential tools are often taken for granted when planning a project, but this quick guide will help you learn everything you need to know about cross stitch needles.
Types of Needles
There are a good number of types of needles, embroidery, tapestry, beading, darning… the list goes on. But what is the right type of needle to use for cross stitch? Tapestry needles have the best results for cross stitching, that’s not to say you couldn’t cross stitch with other types, you can, but it’s often not as easy. Tapestry needles have a blunt tip and a larger eye.
The blunt tip is perfect for working on open weave fabrics that are used for cross stitch, such as Aida and Linen. The needle rarely actually needs to break through the fabric, it just needs to slip through the natural holes in the weave. The larger eye allows for the easy use of cotton threads such as floss with numerous strands, or pearl cotton.
There are exceptions to the rule of course. If you are using Aida and trying to do fractional stitches (three quarter stitches for example), then you do need to split the fibres and in this case you may want to work with an embroidery needle instead.
Needle Sizes
Once you’ve found the right type of needle, you need to consider the size. Needles come in lots of sizes, designed for use with different fabrics. It is important to remember that for needles, the larger the size, the smaller the needle is! So a size 18 needle is quite large while a size 28 needles is very tiny and often delicate.
Why does the size matter? Well there are a couple of reasons. If you are using a large Aida, like size 11, the holes are fairly large and you can easily use a larger needle for this, but if you are using a delicate linen with a 32 count, then a size 22 needle will have to be forced through the holes causing them to be larger and distorted. For best results, the larger the fabric count, the smaller the needle you should use.
The second reason the size matters is for the threads. If you are stitching on an 11 count fabric, then you very well may be using more strands of floss, 2 or three perhaps in order to make your stitches appear full. If you are working on 32 count fabric however, you will likely never use beyond 2 strands of floss so the hole in the needle can be smaller and will fit more easily through the tiny weave.
Here is a handy general guide you can use to determine what needle size you need.
| Fabric count | Needle size |
|---|---|
| 6 ct aida | 18 |
| 8 ct aida | 20 |
| 11 ct aida / 22, 25, 27 ct evenweave | 22 |
| 14 ct aida / 28 ct evenweave | 24 |
| 16 ct aida / 32 ct evenweave or 22 ct hardanger | 26 |
| 18 ct aida / 36 ct evenweave | 28 |
Final Thoughts
Now you know what needle you need but your still not sure what else you need to get started? Take a look at our post on how to start cross stitching for the first time or make sure you have all the essential items you need to get started.
Still not sure where to go next? We have great little guide to help you decide what fabric would be best for your project.
