One of the things I wish we had more of in the UK is dedicated bricks and mortar cross stitch shops. Unfortunately, despite living in a large city, there aren’t any local to me (the nearest one looks to be in North Wales, a good 90 minute drive).
I tend to order online and thought I’d share some of my favorite shops.
Best for Kits
There are two main sites that I use for purchasing cross stitch kits – Cotton Club Crafts and Hobby Jobby. Both offer really well priced kits and I’ve had a few orders from them over the years.
Both have really good dispatch times and offer free delivery over a certain amount. Cotton Club Crafts are really well priced and I buy any Bothy Threads kits from them and I have my eye on a couple of Luca-S kits from them (well I have my eye on plenty!). You can easily add to a wish list and share with people if you wish.
Hobby Jobby have some great kits branded under their name and I really like their designs. Particular favorites are The Night Cat, Keeper of the Forests and The Warm Autumn – please there’s 20% off Hobby Jobby branded kits until the end of September – the code is on their site. I recently purchased these three kits and they were dispatched super quickly.
Both sites stock a wide range of kits so there is bound to be something for everyone.
Best for Charts
I have amassed quite a selection of charts over the years, mostly from US designers and favorite online shops include
These are great independent online shops (Create Nostalgia have a physical presence in North Wales) and they are all really responsive and can often get hold of specific charts if you contact them. Arts and Designs is one of my faves and I currently have an autoship with Talking Dog for the Cottage Garden Samplings Year in the Woods II.
Best Etsy Shops
Etsy, I find, is becoming quite hit and miss. The rise of AI Generated designs means that you can search for something and purchase it at a seemingly amazing price, only to find it is an AI generated piece and you have no hope of creating anything like you anticipate. That said, here are some Etsy shops I have used a number of times and really like.
Kate Blandford – Kate makes all manner of bits and pieces for cross stitchers. I like the floss organisers and needleminders. I love my little grumps and my black cat needleminders.
Velvet Pony – I love the patterns here and my wings of spring was from Velvet Pony. I have another couple of patterns from here in my stash too.
Pigeon Coop – I absolutely love Max’s designs and I think I might do one of his designs next when I get my fox finished. Lots of natural world inspired designs.
Are there any other amazing online spaces I’m missing?
