NEEDLEPOINT 101
- TOOLS -
- STITCHES -
CONTINENTAL STITCH
The continental stitch is a great place for new stitchers to start. It creates a small diagonal stitch on the front of the canvas
- Bring your needle up from the back of the canvas at the lower left corner of the canvas intersection you want to stitch
- Insert your needle down into the upper right corner of that same canvas intersection, forming a small diagonal stitch on the front
- Move left to the next intersection in the row, ensuring your needle comes up from the lower left and goes down through the upper right
BASKETWEAVE STITCH
When you’re confident with the Continental Stitch, give Basketweave a try! Just like the continental stitch, it creates small diagonal stitches on the front, but the key difference is how you move across the canvas. Instead of working in straight horizontal or vertical rows, you stitch diagonally across the canvas. As you move from row to row, the back of the canvas will show alternating vertical and horizontal stitches. This is what gives Basketweave its name and provides the finished piece strong coverage and longevity.
- NEELDLEPOINT ACRONYMNS & TERMINOLOGY -
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| NDLPT | Needlepoint |
| LNS | Local Needlepoint Shop. Refers to independently owned brick-and-mortar shops that carry canvases, fibers, tools, and provide classes or finishing services. Go in for one skein, leave with three new projects. |
| WIP | Work In Progress. That project you swear you’ll finish… right after you start the next on. |
| STASH | Your personal archive of canvases, threads, and good intentions. A lovingly curated collection that grows faster than your WIPs. |
| SKEIN | A neatly twisted bundle of thread. What a single unit of thread is termed and sold by. |
| DYE LOT | The color batch your thread was dyed in. Threads with different dye lots can be almost the same shade, but not quite. Make sure you have enough of each color in the same dye lot before you start a project to avoid unwanted color variations. |
| STITCH PAINTED | A canvas where every intersection is painted a single color by hand so you always know exactly what color to stitch the intersection. It’s like color-by-number for grown-ups. |
| MESH SIZE | Refers to the number of holes per inch in a needlepoint canvas. A lower mesh number (like 13) means larger holes and easier and faster to stitch, less detailed designs, and thicker threads. A higher mesh number (like 18) has smaller holes, allows for more detail, takes longer to stitch, and uses thinner threads. |