Cross stitch, when compared with some other hobbies, is not an expensive pastime. You only need a few basic pieces of equipment to be able to start stitching your first project with confidence.

Needles

You will need a few good needles. Standard embroidery needles are fine and are usually the needles that come with the complete kits. These are good enough for beginners but as you move on to more complex projects and different fabrics you will need better needles.

You can purchase needles specially designed for cross stitch that come to a point but are not sharp. They are great for separating the fabric so that they can slip straight through the ready made holes.

For more advanced stitches such as the half and quarter stitches you will need a crewel needle with a good point as these stitches actually piece the fabric. Make sure you get one with a big enough eye to take the thread that you are going to use.

Scissors

A sharp pair of embroidery scissors is a must so that the cut ends of your threads are clean and are less likely to fray. Alternatively you could buy a pair of thread snips. These differ to scissors in that they lie flat against the fabric and so allow you to snip the ends of your threads closer to the back of the fabric.

An embroidery hoop or frame

You will need a hoop as you move on to bigger and more complex projects so it is worthwhile buying one when you begin. A hoop or frame holds your fabric taught so that as you stitch the individual stitches are all of the same tension. This means you don't end up with loose stitches or overly tight ones and the inevitable result -- a mishapen picture.

Hoops come in a variety of diameters from 1" for very small pieces to over 12" but the most commonly used size is an 8" hoop. If you are intending to start with a number a small projects then buy a small hoop but if you think you will quickly move on to bigger projects then go for a larger hoop as very small pieces can be done without a hoop, although for the best results this isn't advisable.

To achieve the best piece of work possible you should prepare your hoop with bias binding before you use it. This should be wrapped around both the inner hoop and the outer hoop in order to provide some soft padding between the hoop and the fabric. This protects the stitches when you have to put the hoop over them.

A dark pencil and some coloured pins

When you are just starting out with cross stitch you may find that the chart is a little bit confusing but this can be made a lot easier to understand by using a dark (soft-leaded) pencil to mark off the areas you have stitched.

This allows you to see what areas you have done and what areas still need to be done. Placing a coloured pin in the last stitches you do and a corresponding pin in the same place on the chart you can leave the cross stitch knowing that when you next pick it up you will know exactly where you got to and so where to start again.

A stitch converter

This is a great piece of equipment for when you start buying the design chart separate to the materials you need to stitch it i.e. when you are past buying complete kits. It will be able to tell you how big the finished piece of work will be based on the number of stitches across and down and the type of fabric you are using. This way you can buy a specific type of material if you need your finished design to be a set size.

There are a variety of other pieces of equipment that you can buy for cross stitching but for the first time out the tools listed above are really all you will need.