Needlepoint

Needlepoint is a form of counted thread embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open weave canvas. Most needlepoint designs completely cover the canvas. Although needlepoint may be worked in a variety of stitches, many needlepoint designs use only a simple tent stitch and rely upon color changes in the yarn to construct the pattern.

The degree of detail in needlepoint depends on the thread count of the underlying mesh fabric. Needlepoint worked on fine canvas is known as petit point. Due to the inherent stiffness of needlepoint, common uses include eyeglass cases, holiday ornaments, pillows, purses, upholstery, and wall hangings.

The roots of needlepoint go back thousands of years to the ancient Egyptians, who used small slanted stitches to sew up their canvas tents. Howard Carter, of Tutankhamen fame, found some needlepoint in the cave of a Pharaoh who had lived around 1500 BCE.

Modern needlepoint descends from the canvas work in tent stitch, done on an evenly woven open ground fabric that was a popular domestic craft in the 16th century.

Further development of needlepoint was influenced in the 17th century by Bargello and in the 19th century by shaded Berlin wool work in brightly colored wool yarn. Upholstered furniture became fashionable in the 17th century, and this prompted the development of a more durable material to serve as a foundation for the embroidered works of art.

Needlepoint is worked upon specialized types of stiff canvas that have openings at regular intervals.

Embroidery that is not needlepoint often uses soft cloth and requires an embroidery hoop.

When referring to handcrafted textile arts which a speaker is unable to identify, the appropriate generalized term is "needlework". The first recorded use of the term needlepoint is in 1869, as a synonym for point-lace. Isabella Beeton's Beeton's Book of Needlework (1870) does not use the term "needlework", but rather describes "every kind of stitch which is made upon canvas with wool, silk or beads" as Berlin Work (also spelled Berlinwork). Berlin Work refers to a subset of needlepoint, popular in the mid-19th Century that was stitched in brightly colored wool on needlepoint canvas from hand-colored charts.

...
Wikipedia