Needlepoint Belt Frame Review

A big hurdle for me to stitch a needlepoint belt was the challenge of stitching that long skinny canvas. I do not like to stitch in hand. Stretcher bars that long would be impractical.

What’s a stitcher to do?

I had heard that K’s Creations made a frame specifically for making belts.

The first time I tried to buy the needlepoint belt frame, the shop said there was no such thing and sold me a regular, if narrow, K’s Frame.

It’s lovely, but it’s hard to hold the belt steady and keep the needlepoint tight. Better than nothing but still not a great solution.

Finally, thanks to the folks at Needle in a Haystack, I was able to get one. These ingenious devices are a scroll frame with the sides extended and rigid bars outside the scroll sides. That sounds so simple, but it’s a brilliant solution.

Those rigid sides offer a nice place to hold the frame. This keeps your hands off the needlepoint, often a problem with the narrow size of belt scroll bars. It also helps you hold the frame steadier.

Because the scroll bars are inside the rigid frame, They don’t get jostled as much, which keeps them from moving and the needlepoint from loosening.

You attach the needlepoint to the scroll bars in the usual way, basting the edges to twill tape on the bars. Because belts are long, it makes sense to do one side then roll it up, so that only a bit is left to make it easy to baste the other side. I didn’t do this and had canvas flapping all over the place and my belt is not straight.

Once basted, loosen the scroll bars and adjust the needlepoint.

The K’s belt frame comes in 2 widths: 6″ and 9″. They can also make custom sizes on request.

I’m thinking that if you wanted to spring for wider frames, these could work for other larger projects.