Gold Plated Needles

My gold-plated needles are blunt-ended as they are made for all sorts of counted embroidery – they part fabric threads, rather than piercing the fabric. You won’t want to go back once you have tried one! A pack of three needles is one size – choose from size 24, 26 or 28. The higher the needle number, the finer it is. If unsure which to order, size 24 will suit working on Aida fabric and size 26 is recommended for 28-count evenweave. A size 28 needle is finer again and best when stitching with the equivalent of one strand of stranded cotton (floss) because the eye is very delicate. They will not rust, mark your fabric or affect you if you are allergic to nickel.

The needles are presented in a mini envelope lined with a print taken from the Catherine Archer sampler or one of my spot motif samplers.

These gold-plated needles have been voted the best in the business for many years, so let me tell you a little more about how they came to be. During 1987, the I visited the US with my family and explored American cross stitch shops. It was then that I was introduced to gold-plated needles and, I must be honest, I thought it was all bunkum. You can imagine how surprised I was after stitching with a good-quality gold-plated needle for an evening – I was completely hooked!

Back in the UK I found that no-one sold gold-plated needles! After an afternoon on the phone, I found a company prepared to gold plate one thousand, size 24 tapestry needles. It was at this point that I made the most important business decision I was ever to make: I was asked how much gold I wanted on each needle – I had simply no idea what to say and mumbled something about the gold not wearing off. The company informed me, “British Nuclear Fuels and the Ministry of Defence have 2 microns, so that should be plenty”. I agreed and this is how The Cross Stitch Guild came to sell gold-plated needles. I did ask what the MOD used gold for and was told it was for the detonators on grenades!