Needles for cross stitch: which size to choose for your fabric
A needle seems like a small thing, but it affects how your stitches lie and how tired your fingers get. The wrong needle pushes the squares apart, frays the thread or catches nearby stitches.
The tapestry needle
Cross stitch is usually worked with a tapestry needle. It has a blunt, rounded tip and a long eye:
- the blunt tip goes through the ready-made holes of Aida and evenweave without piercing the fabric threads or finished stitches;
- the long eye is easy to thread and doesn't wear thread of several strands.
You need a sharp needle when the fabric has no ready-made holes, or for a quarter stitch in the middle of an Aida square — see "Half and three-quarter stitches".
Needle size
Tapestry needle sizes run backwards: the bigger the number, the finer and shorter the needle. The usual advice:
| Fabric | Needle |
|---|---|
| Aida 11–14 | size 22–24 |
| Aida 16–18 | size 24–26 |
| Evenweave 28–32 (over two) | size 26–28 |
This is a guide, not a rule. The needle should pass through the hole without effort but not stretch it. If your stitches have "holes" around them, the needle is a bit thick. If the thread is hard to pull through, it's a bit fine or the eye is narrow for the number of strands. For fabric count, see "Fabric and count".
The beading needle
Beads need a fine needle that fits through the bead's hole. Beading needles are very fine and long; the finest tapestry needle often works too. More in "Beads in cross stitch".
When to change the needle
- Dark or rough. The plating wears off and the needle starts to catch the fabric.
- Bent. A bent needle leads stitches off line.
- Keep several. A needle for each colour is handy for parking and areas with frequent colour changes — see "Confetti in cross stitch".
About the author
This article was written by the Crossette team. We're building Crossette, a cross stitch tracker for iPhone and iPad. It's in development; to join the beta, see the Beta page.