Embroidery and needlework
Decorate fabric with thread: hand embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, sashiko and more.
Hand embroidery
Decorating fabric with needle and thread, one of the oldest forms of needlework.
10 guidesCross stitch
Counted embroidery: X-shaped stitches on a grid fabric build a picture from a chart.
9 guidesBlackwork
Embroidery usually worked in black thread, most strongly associated with Tudor England. It is often counted, on evenweave fabric.
6 guidesCrewel embroidery
Surface embroidery worked in wool, using many stitches to follow a design outline. It became popular in the 17th century.
7 guidesGoldwork
Embroidery with metal threads, prized for the way light plays on it. The threads are not solid gold: they are gold-coated silver or cheaper metals.
6 guidesStumpwork
Also called raised work: embroidered figures stand up from the surface to make a 3D effect.
6 guidesNeedlepoint and tapestry
Canvas work: yarn stitched through a stiff open-weave canvas, often covering it completely in tent stitch.
7 guidesBargello
Needlepoint made of upright flat stitches in a mathematical pattern, named after flame-stitch chairs in the Bargello palace in Florence.
6 guidesHardanger and drawn thread
Hardanger is traditionally white thread on white evenweave, using counted and drawn thread work. Drawn thread work removes threads from the fabric and bundles the rest into patterns.
6 guidesSashiko
Traditional Japanese stitching for decorative or practical reinforcement of cloth, typically white thread on indigo-blue fabric.
7 guidesMachine embroidery
Decorative stitching made with a sewing or embroidery machine; most modern embroidery machines are computer-controlled and use digitised design files.
7 guidesFree-motion embroidery
Drawing with the sewing machine: fit a darning or free-motion foot, lower or cover the feed dogs and move the fabric yourself.
7 guidesPunch needle
A hollow needle in a handle makes tightly packed loops of thread or yarn on woven fabric, for embroidery or rugs.
7 guides