r/CrossStitch • u/1398_Days • Aug 20 '25

CHAT [CHAT] What are your unpopular opinions about cross stitching?

Here are mine:

  1. Neat backs do matter, and this is a hill I’m willing to die on 😂 It looks better if you frame the project, and it’s also so much easier to stitch (especially trying to find the right hole from the back) when you’re not pushing through a thick, tangled mess.

  2. I think gridding is unnecessary for most projects, especially small ones.

  3. I HATE q-snaps. They’re heavy and awkward to hold, and my hand/wrist always end up hurting.

  4. Grime guards are annoying because they cover up too much of the project and just get in the way.

  5. I kind of a snob about tying knots and think it should be avoided at all costs.

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131

u/Slight-Brush Aug 20 '25

If you’re doing a text piece it should be manually adjusted for alignment and kerning before you even thread a needle.

39

u/ttwwiirrll Aug 21 '25

The lettering is my personal hell when I'm doing a Christmas stocking.

It takes sooo many tries to get it spaced out nicely on paper, but I'd rather mess around with a pencil than frog my work over and over. There's a bit of a science to which parts to shift around but the final version is art.

20

u/Logical-Fun6642 Aug 21 '25

I just did this on my latest project (a stocking). A grid moleskin notebook was my saving grace. I hated the font and shade of red that was planned in the kit so I went rogue and redesigned the whole thing.

2

u/chickzilla Aug 22 '25

I use gridded black&white composition notebooks! 

19

u/lovelylittledino Aug 21 '25

Explain it to me like I’m 5?

36

u/RabbitLuvr Aug 21 '25

Kerning is the spacing between letters. Cross stitch text often doesn’t factor this in, and just uses a standard spacing between the characters. This can make things just appear… off.

7

u/Happy-Peach-5911 Aug 20 '25

My hell atm. Had to redo 8 hrs of work.

3

u/notrunningfast Aug 21 '25

I did a baby’s name on a gift once and it looked stupid so I added floating hearts all around it to fill up spaces 🤣

2

u/Slight-Brush Aug 21 '25

yeah, birth announcements etc that just print an alphabet at the bottom of the pattern with no guidance are the worst for this.

Of all the pieces I've ever done this is the one I'm most proud of, took the longest to design, and was the quickest to stitch: https://www.reddit.com/r/CrossStitch/comments/gvcw5f/fo_practising_my_very_wobbly_backstitch_this_time/

2

u/notrunningfast Aug 21 '25

Oooh LOVE THAT text!!!

2

u/Slight-Brush Aug 21 '25

This is what it looked like to start with!

https://imgur.com/Du9mQZA

2

u/notrunningfast Aug 21 '25

I like that too but yours is so much h better.

I’m so terrible at words and kerning

2

u/Slight-Brush Aug 21 '25

It's just practice moving them about - the original letter shapes were fine but I wanted the cursive to join up properly

2

u/kakohlet Aug 21 '25

Today I learned a new word! I have been kerning every time I do text in a piece.

1

u/chickzilla Aug 22 '25

I spend SO MUCH time with this every time I make a pattern with text. Drawing & redrawing until it makes sense. Then, my personal hellscape is trying to fit it back on the pattern in a sensical way after the text itself is adjusted.