As with any craft, needlepoint is an ongoing learning experience with plenty of opportunities to hone your technique. At Elizabeth Bradley Design, our customer service team is dedicated to bringing you the best possible stitching experience by offering support through every step of your journey. Read on for a few of our favourite tips for improving your Victorian Cross Stitch skills, and remember, practise makes perfect!  You can always reach out to us with any questions.

• Creating seamless stitches: Keep the tension even and avoid puckering fabric by holding the canvas taught while gently pulling the thread through. You can remove stitches that are too loose or too tight by carefully pulling them out with a needle. If you notice that many of your stitches are uneven, you can practise your technique on some scrap fabric. We also offer complimentary stitch samples, which includes a piece of canvas, a needle, and a strand of wool.

• Securing loose threads: Be sure to tie any loose thread ends and trim off the excess. This will prevent the threads from fraying or tangling, and your hard work from unraveling! Keeping the back of your project neat will also make it easier to identify and correct any errors. If you find that many of your threads are fraying, it may be time to switch to a new needle. 

• Matching your colours: To avoid mixing up similar wool shades, be sure to sort them before beginning your project. We recommend doing this in a well-lit area, particularly during the daytime. Our acrylic wool organiser is a great tool for keeping threads tidy and separated. Every kit comes with a wool colour code card that will help you accurately match each shade.

• Checking your work: Periodically re-checking your stitch counting will ensure any mistakes can be easily corrected sooner rather than later. If you find you’ve miscounted, don’t worry! You can remove the stitches carefully and redo them, or adjust your design accordingly to make the miscounted stitches virtually unnoticeable in your finished piece.

• Sorting your threads: It’s not necessary to shorten the wool in Elizabeth Bradley needlepoint kits, as the strands are already the correct length. Cutting the wool may result in a shortage of that colour, and more waste tails. If you need additional threads, you can contact us at sales@elizabethbradley.us.

If you have any other tips and tricks to help your fellow stitchers, we encourage you to leave them in the comments section below! To contact our customer service team with additional inquiries, you can call us at +1 919.828.5568, send us an email, or fill out a form on our website.