How to Start Needlepoint: Your First Stitch, Step by Step 09/24/26
So you've decided to try needlepoint but you don't know where to begin. The truth is that few crafts are as satisfying to learn: the stitches are simple, the rhythm is calming, and the results are beautiful. This guide walks you through exactly how to start needlepoint, from threading your needle to completing your first row of stitches.
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
Before you stitch a single thread, make sure you have the basics on hand:
Needlepoint canvas: Our printed canvas is ideal for beginners because the colors tell you where each thread goes.
Tapestry needle: Our kits include a size-20 needle. The blunt tip slides through canvas holes without splitting the weave.
Thread: Our kits include cotton embroidery floss, for our size 13 mesh canvas we recommend keeping the thread as one strand (do not separate the six strands). You risk getting worse coverage if you split the strands.
Scissors: Small, sharp embroidery scissors make clean cuts.
Good lighting: Natural daylight or a daylight LED lamp reduces eye strain considerably. I cannot emphasize enough how much lighting will affect your speed and reliability when it comes to stitching.
To make it easy to get started in this our kits include everything you need to complete each project.
Step 2: Cut and Prepare Your Thread
Cut your thread to about 18 inches (45 cm). This length is long enough to stitch efficiently but short enough to prevent tangling and fraying as you pull it through the canvas. Sometimes when I get too ambitious I cut too long and some nasty slip-knots occur. Avoid the hassle entirely by cutting the thread to the length of your forearm.
Step 3: Threading and Holding Your Needle
Tapestry needles have a large eye, but threading them can still be fiddly, especially since we are using all six strands of the thread at once. Here are two effective tricks to get the thread through the eye:
1. Wet the tip of the thread: the six threads with stick together better and will become more rigid, allowing for easier threading.
2. Use a needle-threader: Our kits include a needle-threader and they are fairly simple to use. Stick one of the hook ends through the eye of the needle, then hook the thread on the end. Pull the hook back through the eye and voila! The needle is threaded.
When it comes to holding the needle itself as you stitch, do not tie a knot to the needle. This will make it difficult to pull through the canvas and can be very frustrating. I recommend letting 2-3 inches of thread hang out of one side of the needle and that you use your pinky and ring finger to keep these together as you stitch. Don’t pull too hard or you will have to re-thread the needle.
Step 4: Anchor Your Thread
There are two ways to anchor your thread, and it really depends on how much effort and care you want to put into the design.
The first is very simple and for people that don’t care too much about what the back of the canvas looks like. Tie a simple knot at the end of the thread and push the knot from the back of the canvas through to the front so that now you can begin stitching.
The second is our recommended method: starting your waist knot on the front of your canvas. Knots create lumps on the back of your canvas and can show through your finished work. Instead, use the waste knot method to start:
1. Tie a temporary knot at the end of your thread.
2. Push the needle down through the front of the canvas, about 1 inch ahead of where you plan to start stitching, in the direction your stitches will travel.
3. Begin stitching toward the knot. Your stitches will anchor the thread tail on the back as you work.
4. Once the tail is secured (after 4-5 stitches), snip off the knot flush with the canvas front.
Step 5: Work Your First Stitches
The most fundamental needlepoint stitch is the continental tent stitch. Here's how to work it:
1. Bring the needle up through a canvas hole (let's call it hole A).
2. Insert the needle diagonally one canvas intersection up and to the right (hole B). Pull through gently but snugly.
3. On the back, slide the needle under a canvas thread horizontally to the left.
4. Bring the needle up through the next hole above A.
5. Repeat along the column.
Printed instructions of this are located inside each of our kits, we also have a section on our website with some videos. Each stitch covers one canvas intersection at a 45-degree diagonal. That's it. Most needlepoint designs are built entirely from this one stitch.
Tip: Keep your tension consistent: snug but never tight. If you're distorting the canvas, ease up slightly.
Step 6: End Your Thread
When your thread runs short (about 2-3 inches remaining), end it cleanly:
1. Turn the canvas to the back.
2. Slide the needle under 4-5 completed stitches.
3. Pull through and trim the tail close to the canvas.
No knots needed here either. The woven-under tail is completely secure.
Step 7: Go One Section at a Time
Work one color section at a time, moving from the foreground details to the background fill. There's no race. Most stitchers work 15-30 minutes at a time and find the repetitive motion genuinely meditative.
If you are feeling confident enough, explore different stitches to give your designs more texture! I personally love the experimentation process as it brings a lot more personality to each design.
The best way to learn needlepoint is simply to begin. Find your first design and start stitching today!