I’ve always loved crafts and have been cross stitching since I was a child, so I know how much stuff you can end up with, and that all those bits and bobs need clever storage solutions.
If you’re an avid cross stitcher too, I’ll bet you have more embroidery thread, cross stitch needles, embroidery hoops, and aida fabric than you know what to do with, let alone all your finished cross stitch projects.
I’m here today to help you keep things nice and tidy, with my 5 favourite ways to organise cross stitch accessories.
1. Use floss drops for your embroidery threads
Floss drops are small tabs made of plastic or card with a hole in the centre, to loop your embroidery threads (or floss) through to keep them tidy. They often have an additional hole so that you can link all your floss drops together on a binder ring or carabiner.
Some cross stitchers like to wind their embroidery threads around bobbins to keep them tidy, but others find that creates kinks in their threads, and prefer to use floss drops.
They come in a variety of shapes and colours - I love Kate Blandford’s square floss drops (pictured) as they have a hole for threads, a heart-shaped hole for short threads, and even a space for the thread label too, so that you know exactly what colour it is.
Plus, Kate’s floss drops come in 33 colours, from matte to glittery, neons to pastels - there’s definitely one for every cross stitcher’s taste.
2. Keep your cross stitch needles in a magnetic needle case
The phrase “like finding a needle in a haystack” rings true because it’s far too easy to lose a needle and near-impossible to find it. You can avoid that problem by keeping your cross stitch needles safe in a magnetic needle case.
I love this Magnetic Needle Case from The Makerss - it says it fits 20 needle-felting needles inside, so it would fit even more cross stitch needles, as they’re smaller.
This neat slimline case is easy to store in a drawer or crafting cupboard, and it’s also really handy to have a needle case if you like to cross stitch on the go - it holds needles in place even when you shake the case and hold it upside down, so your needles will never get lost again!
3. Put floss drops in storage containers with drawers
You can find little storage containers or organisers with little drawers in all sorts of colours these days, so there’s bound to be one to match your hobby workspace perfectly.
I love this colourful rainbow drawer unit (£16.20) - it has 16 drawers, and you could put matching threads in each coloured drawer, so that it’s really easy to find the one you need.
If you need more room for all your embroidery threads, this Iris Storage Cabinet (£57.89) has 64 drawers, and would be really useful for other craft accessories too, such as tools for diamond painting kits like ours.
4. Keep your current cross stitch WIP in a project bag
I find that keeping the cross stitch WIP (work in progress) in its own dedicated project bag is really helpful, as it keeps everything you need together, and it’s neater than having a half-finished cross stitch and threads lying around.
I love this Little Fawn Project Bag from Creations by Carol GB (£30) because not only is it made out of adorable contrasting green and white baby deer print fabric, it’s also see-through on one side, so that you can see which of your cross stitch projects is in it.
Keeping your cross stitch project that you’re currently working on in a project bag also helps it to stay clean and prevents it from being damaged, and this one is padded with fleece to ensure your cross stitch stays safe.
5. Use Pattern Keeper or another digital PDF app to organise and follow cross stitch patterns
Pattern Keeper is a brilliant cross stitch PDF reader app available for any Android phone or tablet, and it enables you to upload cross stitch patterns which you can then view, follow and track.
This is great for keeping your cross stitch organised, because it means you don’t need to keep lots of paper patterns, many of which have to be printed onto numerous pages due to their size.
In the Pattern Keeper app, no matter the size of your cross stitch pattern, it condenses them into one page that you can zoom in for more detail and out to see your progress.
If you find cross stitch patterns that you love, you can also store and organise them in the app for use at a later date, without worrying about misplacing them.
I don’t know about you, but this blog post has got me excited to reorganise and tidy up all my cross stitch accessories and works in progress.
If you need a few tips on how to organise and show off your finished cross stitch projects, have a look at my recent blog post, 5 creative ideas for displaying your handmade cross stitch art in your home.