Updated June 8, 2022.
This question often perplexes me, especially when I’m doing a stitch guide. It’s best if the embellishment you want to use is the exact size as the area on the canvas. But how do you tell?
And then, how do you know if the item you’ve picked will fit or be too big or too small?
Jane Wood, of Chilly Hollow, has written and updated a fantastic post called The Sequin Sizer, on how to figure out the sizes of these increasingly popular items. In it she looks at the many sizes and shapes of Sundance sequins and shows you what they’ll cover on 18 mesh canvas.
I can see so many other uses for this. You can use it to see what size of hot fix crystals to buy for a piece. It will help you figure out the proper size of bead to buy to add just the right touch to a canvas. You could even use it to look at the size of brads and buttons to size them. Finally, I’ve used googly eyes on several canvases. They often come in bags of assorted sizes. This will help youu find the correct ones.
Thanks Jane for such a great tool!
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
Can you please tell me what you used for the “foam” in the beer coaster piece? I am looking for that type of yarn in orange for witch’s hair on a needlepoint piece. Can you help me please?
The beer coaster used a variety of threads but mainly it was Flair, narrow organdy ribbon, and silk ribbon. You also might consider using Sea GRrass(from Thread Gatherer) or SrawSilk.
Keep stitching,
Janet