Kat Waskett
- Aug 2

Cross stitch beading made easy with 5 must have tools!

Adding beads to cross stitch can add so much to a design and look fabulous, but the process of attaching them can occasionally be a little frustrating.

I have found a number of items that have been game changing when beading cross stitch and made my life so much easier that I wanted to share these ‘secret weapons’ with you.

I think these 5 awesome tools will be super helpful whether you are new to beading or have some experience with it.

I also have a bonus ‘secret weapon’ at the end relating to bead storage so don’t miss that!

If you would prefer to watch rather than read then this video contains all the same information >>>

Let's dive into the 5 beading must-haves...

1 - The perfect cross stitch beading needle

You can often get away with using a very small regular cross stitch or tapestry needle, such as a size 28. But you may find that even these may not fit through the holes of the very tiniest beads especially with thread in the eye.

So, a specific beading needle can be extremely helpful, but they do tend to be very long and very sharp, like the examples shown here.

two brands of long sharp beading needles - John James and DMC brands, shown next to a regular cross stitch needle for compariosn

This type of beading needle are extremely unwieldy to use, they can easily bend and break and certainly for me, have a very high risk of stabbing injury!

Here's what I found and think are sooooo much better!

long sharp DMC beading needles next to my favourite John James ball point bead embroidery needles

These John James ball point bead embroidery needles have become my go to because they are a similar length to a regular tapestry needle and although they are sharp, they are nowhere near as sharp as the longer beading needles.

This size 10 needle is narrow all the way along even at the eye, so fits through even the tiniest of beads.

A size 10 John James ball point bead embroidery needle laying on a hand with a Mill Hill Petite bead slid over it and resting at the eye position

2 - A sticky bead mat

While doing your beading it will be helpful to tip your beads out of the containers so you can easily access them.

You can use dishes/trays or divided containers but the big risk here is that it would be very easy to knock them and tip beads all over the place.

A sticky bead mat totally eliminates this risk and makes it super easy to see all your beads and select the one you need.

I have the Tacky Bill and like the plastic case format for ease of putting it away with the beads safely inside.

A picture of an open Tacky Bill bead case eith 3 different types of beads on it, and additional picture of the same mat with a needle picking a bead up directly from the sticky bed

You can just sprinkle some beads on and then pick each one up with your needle tip.

I’ve knocked this over while it was open and can confirm that all the beads stayed exactly where they were put!

When you are finished beading, just close the case up and your beads are safely stored for next time.

One thing I have yet to discover is how long it lasts as the stickiness may come off over time, or the sticky mat may become dirty or get fluff or other detritus stuck to it. It may be possible to refresh it with a wash, but honestly these are not expensive so it could just be replaced.

An alternative to this if you are not using a sticky mat might be a bead nabber such as the LoRan bead nabber. This is a small ring that goes on your fingertip to pick up beads before threading them onto your needle. I have not tried this as it’s not really necessary with a sticky mat.

3 - Invisible thread

This one is a double edged sword because it can be a little tricky to use but it’s so worth it for adding beads with no thread showing. It’s especially useful if you are adding lots of different colour beads so you can use the same thread for all of them, and also where you are adding beads that are on fabric and not on stitching as it really is, as the name suggests, invisible so gives a really professional finish to your beading.

There are several brands available but I love the YLI Wonder Invisible Thread which is a nylon thread and is lovely and soft.

a spool of YLI Wonder Invisible Thread held in a hand with a length of thread pulled out and curled in the background

4 - A small piece of something black

This is a bit of an odd one but stick with me and I’ll explain all!

The easiest thing to use for this is a piece of black card, although if you have black trousers on they work perfectly for this as well!

This is going to be a game changer when threading your needle with invisible thread because it is so much easier to do if you put something black or very dark behind it.

If you hold the thread over a light background you will struggle to see it or even find the end of it. Put a dark background behind it and hey presto…you can see what you are doing!

I am aware that there are big eye or wide eye needles that can make threading them easier, but I have not tested those and they do also have downsides of the thread slipping out of them, being more fragile so bending and breaking more easily, and they are also very sharp.

5 - A regular needle

I’ve already mentioned that you can use a regular cross stitch or tapestry needle for the beading itself but the main reason I make sure I keep one on hand is to help untie my thread when I’ve reached the end.

I have found that it really helps to tie the invisible thread onto the needle to stop it sliding out all the time. This will come undone occasionally when you really don’t want it to but when it comes time to actually undo it…that’s when it will not budge!

So, you can use a regular needle to push into the knot and pull it apart. I guess the alternative is to snip the thread off but that’s also tricky and snipping that close to your needle could damage it.

Bonus - Bead storage drawers

You can store your beads in the packets that they come in but it can be hard to see what you have or find a specific number.

I have found these little storage containers that I think are fabulous. These are ArtDot stackable storage containers and I have the 4 drawer set.

They were created for diamond painting but work perfectly for beads too.

Each drawer has 35 tiny little containers so you can store a total of 140 different bead types in here.

A set of 4 ArtDot storage drawers used for bead storage

It comes with a plastic funnel so you can easily transfer the beads into the containers, and tiny stickers so you can label each container with the bead brand and number.

A drawer from the ArtDot storage drawer set with two containers filled with beads, an empty container with a funnel in situ and small stickers to label the containers

There are lots of other options out there, but I just wanted to share these as I really like them.

I hope with all those tools and tips you found something to make beading a little bit easier.

These handy little accessories have transformed my beading experience but I’m sure there are other options out there so do let me know any other ‘secret weapons’ that you may have come across.

Until next time... happy stitching!