How To Do Needlepoint Tapestry Work
Tapestries are done using both weaving and needlepoint as techniques. While larger tapestries are often woven, smaller, finer designs are accomplished with needlepoint work. There are many ready-to-go tapestry kits available nowadays, with the design painted on the tapestry canvas, all the color thread included and a set of instructions. You can also design your own tapestry image, and learn the art of needlepoint tapestries from scratch.
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Things You'll Need
- Tapestry canvas
- Pencil
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- Tapestry frame
- Needle
- Colored yarn
- Scissors
Instructions
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Draw your design onto the tapestry canvas. For beginners, simple shapes and colors are best. Paint the design with the acrylic paint, so that you know which colors go where. The tapestry canvas is made up of holes that form tiny squares, which is the basis of stitching the design.
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Fold the canvas lightly into a quarters to establish the center of the tapestry canvas.
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Attach the tapestry canvas to a tapestry frame. An embroidery hoop can substitute.
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Thread the needle with the color yarn that corresponds to the center point of the tapestry. Always start from the center, as this helps keep the stitches evenly distributed, according to the online Cross Stitch Information Centre.
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Find the center square, then thread the needle through the bottom left hole of the square, then at a diagonal to the top right hole, round the back to the bottom right hole and across in the opposite diagonal to the top left hole, forming a cross. This is called a cross stitch, and is the basic stitch used in needlepoint tapestries.
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Continue doing cross stitches where the design shows that color is to be placed. Change colors where necessary, filling out the design in cross stitches from the center outwards.
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Create a row of cross stitches in an area with a large patch of color, by sewing on three or four diagonal stitches in a row, then their opposite diagonals afterwards.
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Sew a 1/4 stitch in areas where the design shows that two colors are needed in the one cross. This is done by doing one full diagonal stitch, then a stitch that only goes to the center of the square. There is no hole in the center of the square, so make one with your needle. The other half of that stitch is filled in using the second color.
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Take the tapestry canvas off the frame once completed.
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Tips & Warnings
Needlepoint tapestries work well for cushion covers, as framed pictures, or small wall hangings, or even for making bags, book covers or place mats.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit joy stocking image by Karin Lau from Fotolia.com
