Is It Embroidery, Cross-Stitch, or Needlepoint?

I get a lot of people asking me questions while I’m at the local yarn store where I pick up a lot of my embroidery supplies. Just because I know all the staff by name and which product is stocked where, people assume I’m an employee.  I’m starting to think I may spend too much time hanging out there. Hmm.

The question I get most often from people staring in confusion at the displays of kits and patterns is what is the difference between embroidery, cross-stitch, and needlepoint. Put simply embroidery is decorating fabric with thread. That’s it. Any form of embroidery can be used for quick, simple projects or elaborate, complicated designs. Deciding what project to work on really depends on what kind of stitches you want to work with.

Cross-stitch uses short simple stitches, which cross over each other like an X to create the design. Simple outline stitches can be used to add accents or definition to the image. The finished design is fairly flat without much texture. Usually cross-stitch is done with cotton embroidery floss or silk threads. I love this for quick gifts such as bookmarks, but I’ve also done quite a few large, complicated pieces.

This is my current cross-stitch project.

The title Mushroom Tabernacle Choir appealed to my sense of humor.

Crewel embroidery is what most people think of as embroidery. It uses a large variety of stitches to create the design and can incorporate a lot of texture as well as color. The thread used ranges from wool, cotton floss, silk, linen, or even metallic threads, changing the look of the finished piece. It’s a great way to add personal touches to clothing, as well as traditional wall hangings. I have to admit that I get completely lost in the project when I do crewelwork. As in I sit down for five or ten minutes and look at the clock to find I’ve been working for three hours.

This is my current crewel embroidery project.

It looks much better on my frame than in this picture.

Needlepoint starts with a canvas grid, which is then covered with thread. It generally uses yarns or wool thread, but small grid canvas can also use cotton embroidery floss or silk thread. Traditionally it was used to cover chairs or furniture as the canvas made the finished piece durable and a bit stiff. I’ve seen some hand painted canvases coming out in recent years, though that are absolutely fantastic.