Needlepoint

Needlepoint is the ancient art of adorning canvas with decorative designs by passing yarn or embroidery thread through the canvas using a needle. In the 16th and 17th centuries, needlepoint was born to recreate the look of woven tapestries. Needlepoint was popular during colonial times, being used for upholstery and pictures.

Needlework teacher Chottie Alderson is one of the leading advocates for needlework and she had this to say about its uses, "Stitchery is considered to have been one of the earliest human accomplishments." Needlepoint has the stigma of being a female art, when in fact, the history of needlepoint shows many men worked to master the art in the business world.http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayArticle?articleNum=ae0392 The canvas used for needlepoint is available in many different gauges and widths. There are three main types of canvas. They are penelope canvas, mono canvas and interlock.

Embroidery is decorative sewing that can be done on virtually any fabric. Unlike needlepoint, embroidery is done freehand and incorporates various decorative knots into the stitches.

Cross stitch is similar to needlepoint in that it is usually done according to a pattern and uses the same materials. However, cross stitch relies on the diagonal or "cross" stitch, while needlepointers use a variety of diagonal and straight stitches. Needlepoint designs fill up the entire fabric, while cross stitch products usually leave some blank canvas around the stitched design.