Helpful Cross Stitch Links
These are some links I like to keep handy. I'm constantly adding to the list! And yes, I do take suggestions for more links.
In the list of websites below, click on the little
to go straight to the site's freebies section.
Recently-added links will have a NEW tag.
Message Boards
- BBs on EZBoard
- Designer-specific boards
- General stitching boards
- California Bay Area Stitchers
- Cross Stitch Corner (special registration required)
- Cross Stitch Pals
- Just Plain Chat
- Needle & Thread
- Purple Cross Stitch
- Rotation Stitchers
- The Wagon
- Yahoo Groups
- Counted Cross Stitch
- Marilyn's Garden (Marilyn Leavitt Imblum)
- Solaria Gallery
- Kustom Krafts
- Threads
- 1-2-3 Stitch Message Board
- Ellen Maurer-Stroh Message Board
- Cross Stitch resources at About.com
- Stitcher's Niche at iVillage.com
- Xstitch Buddies
- Victoria Sampler Discussion Group and their Beyond X Stitch Club
- Cyber Stitch Cafe
Online and "Brick & Mortar" Shops
- 1-2-3 Stitch
- Dublin, California [online only,
message board] - The Blended Needle - hand-dyed fabrics and stitching accessories
- Crafter's Market - discount supplies
- Craftmen's Studio - they have an informational page on cross stitch fabrics
- CraftSoft
- A Cross Stitch Companion (Vades) - low prices, but high shipping costs/slow shipping
- Cross Stitch Keepsakes
- [online only] - Cross Stitch Treasures

- Crossed Wing Collection
- charts, kits, and hand-dyed fabrics - Fantasy Crafts - fantasy charts and books galore
- Gossamer Dreams - sells threads in 1/2 and 1/4 skeins, and a limited range of Miyuki Delica beads
- Handcrafts Online NEW
- Heritage Stitchcraft - England
- Herrschners
- Jo-Ann - chain store
- Kits2Stitch
- Laurel's Stitchery - Rio Rancho, New Mexico
- Michaels
- chain store - The Needle Case - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Needle in a Haystack - Alameda, California
- Needlecraft Corner
- Needlework Plus - a discount shop
- Ozark Sampler - specialty floss by the yard
- Paw Prints - Worthington, Ohio
- pinn-stitch.com - Thailand
- Punto Croce
- Italy - Salt & Pepper - they will kit most charts
- Shakespear's Peddler - [online only]
- Silkweaver Fabrics
- hand-dyed (& regular) fabrics, Fabric of the Month Club - Stitcher's Closet
- Thumbelina's Needlework - Solvang, Calfornia
- VicStitch (Bellarine Cross Stitch) - Australia [online only]
- The Work Basket - Celtic designs
- Hoffman Distributing Company's Cross Stitch Shop Locator
- Yarn Tree's list of stores selling counted cross stitch
Designers
Proper names are listed by first name - e.g. Ellen Maurer-Stroh is under "E"
- A
- Albany Hill
- American School of Needlework
- Another Time Designs - vintage portraits
- Artful Impressions

- B
- C
- Calico Crossroads
- Candamar Designs
- counted, embellished, and stamped cross stitch -
Carolina Country House- site off-line in early 2006 - Carriage House Samplings (formerly Barrick Samplers)
-
Catherine Kronenwetter- site off-line in late 2005, domain taken by another party. Out of business? - Celtic Cross Stitch - home of the Celtic Alphabet Generator
- The Chocolate Cat

- Clare's Celtic Cornucopia

- Character Creations - designs by Kerry Blackwell, New Zealand
- Châtelaine - designs by Martina Weber
- Couchman Creations
- designs by Karen Couchman, Australia - Cross Eyed Kat - designs by Kathryn Rocha
-
Cross My Heart- website no longer hosted by Needlecraft Showcase - Cross Stitch Criteria
- Cross the Lilliebridge
- D
- Dancing Violet Designs - includes great freebies
- Debbie Patrick Designs - great Victorian homes
- Desert Knight Enterprises/Doodle Dragons
- Designs by Laurel Wheeler
- Designs by Lisa NEW
- Diannic Designs NEW
- Dimensions
- Dimple Designs - wonderful charts by Terry Nolan
- Doop Design
- Dragon Dreams

- The Drawn Thread

- E
- Elizabeth's Designs

- Ellen Maurer-Stroh
- Austrian designer; animal babies freebies - Enchanting Lair
- Elizabeth's Designs
- F
- G
- Gloria & Pat
- Glory Bee

- Great Bear Canada

- Green Apple - Beatrix Potter, Southern Roots
- H
- Heart In Hand
- Heartfelt Designs

- Hillside Samplings

-
Homespun Collectibles- out of business - Homespun Elegance
-
Hoo-Ah Designs- website off-line late 2005 - House-Mouse Designs
- I
- J
- K
- Kitty & Me
- designs by Pamela Kellogg - Kooler Design Studio

- Kustom Krafts
- Kitty & Me
- L
- La Chatelaine Designs

- Ladybug Lane

- Lanarte
- Lavender Wings
- Leon Conrad Designs - Blackwork embroidery
-
Lesa Steele Designs- designer took a break from the business and took down her website in 2004.
- La Chatelaine Designs
- Linen Flowers Designs
-
Lisa Overduin Designs- website off-line in 2005 - Lizzie*Kate

- Lorri Birmingham Designs
-
Luminosity Designs- out of business? Website is off-line. - Lynne Nicoletti

-
Mar-Nic Designs- out of business? - Michael Powell
- Military Wives - includes military cross stitch designs
- Mirabilia
- designs by Nora Corbett (daughter of Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum) - MonkeyWorks
- designs by Kathy Cadilek - Moonshadow Stitchery

-
Mystical Cats Studios- out of business as of 2005; formerly Golden Moments Stitchery.
- Passione Ricamo
- fantasy designs from Italy - Paula Vaughan
- Polstitches Designs
-
The Pomegranate Tree- out of business as of late 2005 - The Prairie Schooler

Risslee Designs- out of business? Website temporarily became an adult site.- Ross Originals - designs from Australia
- San-Man Originals

-
Sherry Senicar Designs- website off-line late 2005 - The Silver Lining
- Solaria gallery
- designs by Stoyanka Ivanova, a Bulgarian designer; beautiful Gobelins - Something In Common

- The Stitcher's Habit
- Stitchin'spiration

- Stitchy Kitty

- Stoney Creek Collection
- Sue Hillis Designs

- The Sweetheart Tree
- Teresa Wentzler Design Works
and Sherry's TW floss lists and errata -
Textured Treasures- website off-line in early 2006 - Threads of Grace
- Tink Boord-Dill Needlework

- Told In A Garden
- designs by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum including the
Lavender and Lace series -
Tom Pudding Designs- out of business as of Jan. 1, 2005. - Trail Creek Farm

- Treasured Tapestries

- Truswell Needlework Design
- great source of finishing articles - Twisted Threads
- The Useful Needle
- no longer a cross stitch site, but freebies are still available
- Vermillion Stitchery
- designs by Donna Giampa - Vickery Collection - designs by Mike Vickery
- The Victoria Sampler
- wonderful Hardanger/specialty stitch designs
- Waxing Moon Designs

- Web Stitch - New Zealand designs
- Whispered by the Wind

- Witches Stitches

Information and Tutorials
- Kathleen Dyer's Counted Cross Stitch Tutorial, Fabric FAQ, Over One instructions
- Needlework Tips & Tricks by Martha Beth Lewis
- CameoRoze's Tips and Techniques
- Reversible cross stitch instructions from CameoRoze - useful for bookmarks
- Heart Blossoms - an informational personal page
- Needlework Know-How from Classic Stitches Magazine
- Cross Stitch resources at About.com
- More on Over One
- Clara Fitzgerald's Needlecraft Notes - animated examples!
- Hardanger
- Lacing Tutorials
- Buddies Lacing Instructions
- Photos of Lacing technique from Jean Farish's site
- even more lacing photos
- Framing Class
- Amy's Framing & Cross Stitch - This is the lady who used to have a Photopoint album with instructions on mounting, stretching, matting and framing.
- How to make twisted cord
- Pinhead Stitch - article by Beth Katz NEW
- StitchAlley.com - cross-stitch sites directory
Fabrics
- Zweigart fabrics
- Wichelt fabrics - lists color swatches and their DMC equivalents
- Birds of a Feather - hand-dyed linen
- The Blended Needle - Color Blooms fabrics (hand-dyed)
- Crescent Colours - hand-dyed fabrics and floss
- Crossed Wing Collection - includes hand-dyed fabrics
- Dragonfly Dreams - hand-dyed fabrics (Australia)
- Dyeing4U - hand-dyed fabrics
- Enchanted Fabrics - hand-dyed fabrics
- Kiwi Illusions - hand-dyed fabrics (New Zealand)
- Lakeside Linens & Designs - Zweigart linens in custom colors
- Picture This Plus
- Norden Crafts' swatch page for R&R Reproductions fabrics
- Silkweaver Fabrics - hand-dyed fabrics
- Stab and Stash - hand-dyed fabrics NEW
- Sugar Maple Fabrics - hand-dyed fabrics (Canada)
- Dharma Trading Company - colorfast dyes for fabrics
- Natural dyes
Fibers
- Cotton
- DMC - they make the popular thread for cross stitch. This site includes some free projects.
- Information on the DMC Color Shift in Feb. 1995
- Coats & Clark - Anchor floss
- Needle Necessities
- Weeks Dye Works
- The Gentle Arts Sampler Threads
- Olde Willow Stitchery
- Six Strand Sweets
- Crescent Colours - hand-dyed fabrics and floss
- Polstitches Designs
- Silk
- Hand Dyed Fibers by by Victoria Clayton
- Eterna Silk - filament silk at a reasonable price
- Gumnut Yarns of Australia
- Rajmahal Art Silk (rayon)
- The Caron Collection - specialty threads - Watercolours, Wildflowers, Waterlilies, Impressions
- Rainbow Gallery - specialty threads - Splendour, Wisper, Ultrasuede, Arctic Rays, and Petite Treasure Braid
- Kreinik - metallic threads. COLOR CHART
- Color Charts and Conversion Lists
- DMC Color Chart (Findstitch.com)
- Annabella's Cross Stitch Corner - DMC to Anchor, Semco, J&P Coats, and Madeira
- Lilootes & compagnie - DMC/Anchor and Bucilla, Weeks, GAST, Delica, Mill Hill, Paternayan, Venus, etc.
- Odds & In's Online - DMC to Anchor, Appleton, Paternayan, Eterna, and Delica
- Caravan Beads' Mill Hill to Miyuki conversion chart
Embellishments, etc.
- Beads
- Mill Hill - beads and kits manufacturer
- Caravan Beads' Mill Hill to Miyuki conversion chart
- Buttons
- Just Another Button Company - polymer clay
- Mill Hill Ceramic Button Collection - includes the Debbie Mumm collection
- Charms
- Fancifuls Inc. - brass charms
- Eclectic Etc., Inc. - gold and silver plated charms
- Charles Craft - various items (fabrics, afghans, baby items, etc.) but unfortunately you can't order direct from their site
- Crafter's Pride - another craft supplier
Magazines
- Classic Stitches
- Crazy For CrossStitch
- Cross Country Stitching
- The Cross Stitcher
- Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch - Australian magazine
- Just Cross Stitch
- Stitcher's World
Software
- PC Stitch - pattern software used by DMC for its patterns
- Pattern Maker
- Digistitch
- Cross Stitch Professional <-- this is what I ended up buying
- StitchCraft
Misc.
- The meaning of sampler motifs (in French) NEW
- Galleries
- The Mirabilia & TIAG/LL/BR Stitchers Gallery by Taneya
- The Cross Stitch Freebies Gallery - photos of stitched pieces of freebies by popular designers; since it's a popular Tripod site, it's frequently unavailable
- Needlework Copyright Information
- CATS - Creative Arts and Textiles Show
- Follow the Thread Internet Radio
- The Embroiderers' Guild of America
- Needlecraft Showcase - cross stitch resource site
- Sue's Cross Stitch Freebie Finder
- AllCrafts Needlework (Free Crafts Network)
- Mufu's Rabbitry and Cross Stitch
- Framing Supplies
- Graphik Dimensions - custom picture frames, and a free catalog
- Documounts Frame Central
- The Sophisticated Stitchers - includes conversion lists
- Ghoststitchers - service for finishing other people's UFOs
- All those A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.S. explained!
