Needlepoint guides & buying tips
Guides from your first stitch to your first finished piece: beginner basics, buying advice, and answers to the questions new stitchers ask.
Needlepoint Christmas Stockings: A Buying & Stitching Guide
Kits or hand-painted canvases, mesh count, adding a name, what a stocking costs, and when to start so it is finished in time.
Read the stocking guide →Start here
How to Start Needlepoint: A Beginner's Guide
New to needlepoint? What to buy, which stitch to learn first, how to start and end a thread, and the mistakes to avoid.
Read the guide →Needlepoint vs. Cross Stitch: What's the Difference?
What each craft is, and how to tell them apart: canvas and Aida, the stitches front and back, charts, and supplies.
Read the guide →Needlepoint vs. Embroidery: What's the Difference?
Needlepoint is a kind of embroidery, worked on canvas. How the ground, the stitches, the needle, and the frame differ, with cross stitch alongside.
Read the guide →Buying
How to Choose Your First Needlepoint Kit
Pre-printed canvas, hand-painted, or a full kit with thread included? What to look for, what shops' kits cost, and kits for kids.
Read the guide →Needlepoint Canvas Mesh Count Explained
10, 13, or 18 mesh? What mesh count means and how to pick the right canvas for your project.
Read the guide →Needlepoint Thread Types: Wool, Cotton, and Silk
What each thread is like to stitch with, how many strands you need for your mesh, and which suits a beginner.
Read the guide →Needlepoint Starter Supplies: What to Buy
Our picks for beginner canvas kits, thread, needles, scissors, stretcher bars, and finishing accessories, with links to buy.
Read the guide →Why Is Needlepoint So Expensive?
What hand-painted canvases, thread, and finishing cost, from ornaments to stockings, read from shops' own listings, and cheaper ways in.
Read the guide →Stitching
Needlepoint Stitches, with Diagrams
Tent stitch three ways, then brick, Scotch, mosaic, Nobuko, corduroy, Byzantine, and French knots, with numbered diagrams.
Read the guide →Needlepoint Background Stitches: How to Choose One
How much canvas should show, how the pattern fits the space, and which stitches work up fastest, then diagonal mosaic, cashmere, Parisian, T-stitch, skip tent, and more, with diagrams.
Read the guide →Bargello Needlepoint: What It Is and How to Stitch It
Upright stitches stepped into peaks and valleys: the stitch and the step, counting the first row, color bands, and four-way Bargello, with diagrams.
Read the guide →Finishing and after
Needlepoint Finishing: What It Costs and How Long It Takes
What a pillow, stocking, or ornament costs to finish, how far ahead the holiday deadlines fall, and why not to trim your canvas.
Read the guide →How to Block and Frame a Finished Needlepoint Piece
Blocking a canvas wet or with steam, the order the pins go in, framing it yourself, and what to ask a framer for.
Read the guide →Selling a Needlepoint Stash
Where to sell, trade in, or donate unstitched canvases and threads, what consignors take and pay, and what to check when buying used.
Read the guide →Ready to see it in person?
At a shop you can see the colors and feel the threads before you choose your next canvas. Find a needlepoint shop near you.
Find a Shop Near You