Articulated Cross Stitch Support

My wife does a fair amount of cross stitch and embroidery and needed something to hold her work, especially the larger pieces. She needed something that would hold the work over her lap, would be adjustable and would easily allow her to flip the work peice over so she could examine the back. This is what I built for her.

The articulated arm is held in what ever position she wants by friction using large threaded knobs on 1/4” bolts. The clamp at the end of the arm is mounted with a bolt into the end grain of the support arm and can spin 360 degrees so she can look at the back of her project. I made two different sized clamps. The whole project was made out of pine, I ended up making a second one, so she wouldn’t have to carry it up and down the stairs.

The base is made from 3/4”x2” lumber (actual dimensions, not the imaginary numbers used by the lumber industry) and is 16”x16”x2-3/4”. The articulated arm peices are 3/4”x1-1/2”x12” (actual dimensions). The final piece with the clamp attached is only 10” long because my first attempt to insert the threaded insert, split the wood and I cut off two inches to try again. (Confession is good for the soul, or so they say.) You can make the clamp length what ever is need for the cross stitch project. The clamp pieces are 3/4×1-1/4 and 3/4×3/4.

-- Best Regards, Dennis