Needlepoint

Needlepoint is a form of canvas work created on a mesh canvas. The stitching threads used may be wool, silk, or rarely cotton. Stitches may be plain, covering just one mesh intersection with a single orientation, or fancy, such as in bargello. more...

Plain stitches may be worked as basketweave or half cross. Basketweave uses the most wool, but does not distort the rectangular mesh.

Finished works may be made into pillows or upholstery, or may be displayed on the wall. Typical mesh counts range from 5 to 18 stitches per running inch.

Needlepoint is valued as a soothing activity that creates durable and attractive objects for domestic use. Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth I, actress Mary Martin, and football player Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier were all avid needlepointers.

Styles

In needlepoint, many distinct styles have evolved. Some of them are:

• Berlin wool work
• Bargello and Hungarian point

Types of Stitches

• Basketweave stitch sometimes called Continental stitch
• Brick Stitch
• Encroaching Upright Gobelin stitch
• Hungarian Ground stitch
• Hungarian point stitch
• Mosaic stitch
• Old Florentine stitch
• Parisian stitch
• Tent stitch
• Upright cross with nack stitch
• Whipped flower stitch

Needlepoint was also the title of a 1997 underground Dutch film involving the graphic sexual molestation of Sir Reginald Veljohnson. The film was banned shortly after its release and few copies are still known to exist.

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