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hi, i have to purchase my first set of glasses ever and i need them for both close and distance. i usually have the tv on whilst x stitching so i can glance up and watch my program at the same time as stitching. i just so need help in deciding what is best. varifocals ( progressive in the u.s.a) seem to not have a large enough reading area from looking at pictures , so i though bifocals would be best, maybe with a larger reading area for the xstitching, but there are so many different shapes and sizes for that reading area and as i can' t actually try any on and look through to see what is best i have come here to ask what you use, have found to be the best option etc. or perhaps you just wear reading glasses and glance over the top!
really need advice from x-stitchers here please. thank you xxx

Sounds as if you are long sighted, so my experience probably won't help. I am so short sighted that I can see the work at 6 inches from my nose without glasses (any further & it's both too small to see & out of focus), looking over the top of my glasses as they lodge on the end of my nose. Then, when I want to see the TV, I tilt my head back to see through the glasses. Followed by 5 minutes cursing as I try to remember where I was...

I am probably going to need varifocals soon, but at the moment, no I don't use them. Or even reading glasses while stitching.

Regards,

Richard.

i am short sighted! but also need glasses for long distance.

I'm facing the same problem as you - very near-sighted and used to be fine with needlework with my ordinary glasses (taking them off for close or detailed work) but age is beginning to tell and although I can still read just fine I could do with "reading" glasses for my evening stitches - BUT like you I watch telly while doing it!

So I'm not going to be much help as I'm still trying to find the right glasses too - from what they told me unless you go for the most expensive and very latest varifocal lenses, there will be blurry bits that are going to clash with stitching . Bifocals do sound the way to go, and what shape and size you go for will depend on several things: Budget; Use; Taste.

Personally I would only use the bifocals while stitching, so a cheap frame is fine for me as it doesn't really matter what they look like (not too heavy would be nice, of course). I will continue to use my ordinary glasses for everyday use as they are in frames which I love but which are too small for vari- or bi-focal lenses. (And can I find anything like my existing frame in the shops? No I can't. Almost all modern frames look huge on my face so I keep re-using my old ones until one day they will just fall apart )

But if they are going to be your main glasses I would say go for the best that you can afford, in a style that you're happy with - after all they are going to be a big part of your life!

thank you, i won't actually be wearing glasses all day, just whilst stitching/reading tv watching, and when i go to study meetings where i need to look at my books/laptop and up at the speaker.
i expect in the future there will be a time when i need to wear glasses permanently

I am near-sighted and have been for most of my life. When I began to need reading glasses also, I went for the progressive lenses which are pretty much bifocals without the lines. I don't even realize that I am looking through the bottom half of the glasses when stitching and reading, and the top half when I'm watching tv, or just doing everyday things. I pretty much know it is time to adjust my prescription when I have trouble seeing my stitching (which isn't that often since I do use the magnifying lamp) or street signs start to get blurry when driving. It didn't take me very long to get used to them. I do agree with Mabel,

Mabel Figworthy wrote:go for the best that you can afford, in a style that you're happy with - after all they are going to be a big part of your life!

Carole

I'm near-sghted and have been wearing Progressive lenses for years - and years! I love them.

Getting older really stinks doesn't it? I brought a sample of my stitching to the eye doctor's office with me so he could see what I needed to be able to see. He wrote the reading prescription stronger than he would ordinarily have after seeing a piece of 28ct. I have the progressive lenses (which are NOT cheap) and do not have any trouble going between the TV and stitching. The progressives give me less of a headache than my sunglasses that have the regular bifocals. I more frequently wear contact lenses for distance vision and use "readers" for reading and sewing. When I have my contacts in, I only need a +1.75 to read but use a +2.50 to cross stitch and sew. Hope this helps.

fccs wrote:I'm near-sghted and have been wearing Progressive lenses for years - and years! I love them.

Yes me too. One thing I found out when chosen my lenses was to tell the optician what I would be doing. I told mine that I wanted to be able to stitch and to read a book as well as watch TV. Mine were made with a slightly larger 'close work' area. So they work fine.

I've recently started with progressive/varifocals and also really enjoy them for stitching while watching TV. I tried reading glasses first and found the peeking over the top was too annoying for me.

Bifocals with a wide reading area may help, but you have less flexibility in the range. For example, if you stitch at one distance, but hold a chart close to look at something, or bring your stitching close, you have less range of focus in a bifocal than you do in a progressive. A progressive has a lot of different focal lengths. However, you're correct that the reading area overall is smaller in a progressive than a bifocal.

If you're going to a good doctor/optician, and you try one way, they should let you return your glasses and try the other way. And like others have mentioned, talk to your doctor/optician about what your needs are. They want you to be happy too so you can tell all your friends and family to come see them. Also feel free to PM me with any questions, I work in the field.

I've been wearing varifocals for a few years now and after the first week, which was most peculiar, I didn't need to think about which bit of the glasses to look through for whatever I was doing. I did find that reading wasn't as easy so my optician changed mine to have a larger reading area and it works brilliantly.

I'd say the most important thing is to use a really good optician. I go to Vision Express and if the glasses aren't suitable for whatever reason, they change them.

I wear varifocals as well, they took a bit of getting used to but are just great now, I also watch TV while stitching and find that wearing a bigger sized lens is best for varifocals

just want to say thank you all for your replies, very helpful and useful.!

I wear regular bifocals. They work fine for my stitching.

Contact lenses are another option, you can have one eye for close and the other for distance. Sounds bonkers but it apparently works. If you don't have astigmatism you can have what we basically vairifocal contacts. Or contacts for the long distance and then normal common or garden reading glasses for stitching.

I appreciate not everyone is able to wear contacts, but I thought I'd put it out there. I can't wear glasses for any length of time so ive been a contacts person for ages!!

I'm finding that as age creeps on, my bad eye is getting better, but my optician has reduced the prescription to allow my near vision to be better but I'm not entirely convinced right now!!

Niki xxx

i have finally found an opticians that will do a mock up with lenses for my prescription in varifocals and bifocals, and they also have a computer simulation, so it will be interesting to compare what i can and can’t see through both.

Excellent! Is that an independent optician or one of the chains? Do let us know how you get on.