Needlepoint vs Cross Stitch vs Embroidery: What's the Difference?
By Lauren McCarter
The main differences between needlepoint and cross stitch are the fabric and the stitch. Needlepoint usually uses diagonal tent stitches on an open canvas. Cross stitch uses X-shaped stitches, usually counted from a chart onto fabric such as Aida or linen. Embroidery is the wide family both belong to. When people say "embroidery" on its own, they usually mean surface stitching on ordinary fabric, with the design drawn on or worked by eye.
All three use a needle and thread, so it's no surprise they get mixed up. In Australia and the UK, lots of people also know needlepoint as tapestry. My nana did a lot of tapestry, which is the same technique under the name many of us grew up with, and I've explained the names in tapestry vs needlepoint. So if you're weighing up tapestry vs cross stitch, everything below about needlepoint applies to tapestry too.
The short answer
- Needlepoint usually covers an open canvas with diagonal tent stitches. The stitched canvas can be finished as a keyring, a framed piece, a cushion or a stocking.
- Cross stitch builds a picture from neat Xs, usually counted onto an even-weave fabric such as Aida. It suits samplers, lettering and framed pictures, and the fabric often becomes part of the design.
- Surface embroidery lets you draw with thread on almost any fabric, from a linen napkin to a shirt collar, using a whole library of stitches.
I think of stitching a painted needlepoint canvas as a stitch-by-numbers style of craft. You stitch the colour where the colour is painted on the canvas, rather than counting like you would with a cross stitch chart, or coming up with the design and stitching it on, as you might with traditional embroidery. That's a big part of why I wanted to share it: it's quite straightforward once you learn the basic stitch.
Needlepoint, cross stitch and embroidery at a glance
Here are the three side by side, with a diagram below the table showing each one at the same scale.
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to compare all three crafts.
| Needlepoint (tapestry) | Cross stitch | Surface embroidery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stitched on | Stiff, open canvas (mono canvas in 13 or 18 mesh is common) | Even-weave fabric, often Aida or linen | Almost any fabric |
| Needle | Tapestry needle with a blunt point | Blunt tapestry or cross stitch needle | Sharp embroidery or crewel needle |
| Thread | Wool, silk and wool blends, or cotton (perle, soft or stranded) | Stranded cotton, split into strands | Stranded cotton most often; also crewel wool, silk and metallics |
| Main stitch | Tent stitch (worked as half cross, continental or basketweave), plus decorative stitches | Cross stitch, often with backstitch outlines | Many, including stem, satin, chain and French knots |
| Held in | A frame or stretcher bars, or in the hand | Usually a hoop | Usually a hoop or frame |
| Design comes from | A painted or printed canvas, or a chart | A counted chart, or a design stamped on the fabric | Drawn onto the fabric, or worked by eye |
| Coverage | Usually covers the whole canvas | Fabric usually shows around the design | Fabric usually shows around the design |
| Often becomes | Keyrings, passport covers, framed pieces, cushions, stockings | Samplers, framed pictures, cards, ornaments | Clothing, table and bed linen, hoop art |
What is needlepoint?
Needlepoint is embroidery worked on canvas. The Royal School of Needlework files it under canvaswork, a form of counted thread embroidery, and lists needlepoint, petit point and tapestry as other names for it. Modern needlepoint canvas is usually a rigid cotton canvas, and the stitching usually covers it completely.
Canvas is sized by mesh, which is the number of holes per inch. 13 and 18 mesh are common sizes: the more holes per inch, the finer the detail. Standard canvas is called mono, woven from single threads, while double-thread canvas is called Penelope. Our kit and passport canvases are hand-painted on Zweigart mono deluxe 13 mesh.
The main stitch is tent stitch, one small diagonal stitch over a single intersection of the canvas threads. Half cross, continental and basketweave are three ways of working it. From the front they look the same, though half cross sits a little flatter. The difference is the path your needle takes and how the thread sits on the back. Needlepoint also uses decorative stitches, including some familiar from surface embroidery (more on that below).
The design can come from a hand-painted canvas, a printed canvas, or a chart you count onto blank canvas. All three are lovely ways to stitch. With a painted canvas, the colour is right there in front of you and you cover it with thread. Our needlepoint canvases are made to be stitched this way.
Needlepoint is often worked in wool, and also in silk and cotton threads. Our kits use Silk & Ivory, a blend of 50% silk and 50% merino wool, and we have over 100 colours in stock. Stranded cotton works on canvas too: our canvas-only listings suggest DMC Perle 3, DMC Soft Cotton or DMC Stranded Cotton, and my needlepoint thread guide explains how to choose.
A stitched needlepoint canvas can be finished in several ways, including keyrings, passport covers, framed pieces, cushions and stockings. If you'd like to try it, my guide on how to needlepoint walks you through your first rows.
What is cross stitch?
Cross stitch is two straight stitches that cross to make an X. You can work each X on its own, or stitch a row of half stitches and come back along the row to cross them. The top stitch always slants the same way, which keeps the surface looking even.
It's the most common counted thread stitch. You work on an even-weave fabric, following a chart square by square, and the needle goes through the holes between the fabric's threads. Aida is made for counted work: its weave forms neat little blocks with a hole at each corner, which makes it easier to count. Linen and other even-weaves are used too.
Cross stitch usually leaves the fabric showing around the motifs, so the colour of the fabric becomes part of the design. Some kits are stamped, with the design printed on the fabric, so you stitch over the print instead of counting.
DMC's essential cross stitch toolkit includes six-strand embroidery floss, fabric, a blunt cross stitch needle, a hoop to hold the fabric taut, small sharp scissors and a pattern. Stranded cotton separates into six strands, so you choose how many to stitch with to suit your fabric. It's a lovely craft for samplers, lettering, cards and ornaments.
The difference between needlepoint and cross stitch
Canvas vs Aida
Needlepoint canvas is a stiff, open mesh, and tent stitches pass diagonally over its thread intersections until the design is covered. Aida has a grid of woven blocks with holes at the corners. Each cross stitch spans a block, and the fabric often shows around the design.
The stitch
A tent stitch is a single diagonal over one intersection of canvas. A cross stitch is two diagonals crossed over one block of fabric. Half cross is one of the ways to work tent stitch, so the front looks like the first half of an X. With tent stitch, you leave each stitch as a single diagonal rather than crossing it to make an X.
Following the design
Cross stitch is usually counted from a chart, where symbols or colours on a grid tell you which square gets which thread. Needlepoint can be counted from a chart too. When I started designing, I sketched ideas and converted them into needlepoint charts in Stitchly. Many needlepoint canvases, though, have the design painted straight onto the mesh, so you match your thread to the paint and stitch over it.
Neither way is better. Some stitchers love the rhythm of counting, and others would rather see the colours in front of them.
What is embroidery?
Embroidery is the broad word for decorating fabric with a needle and thread, so needlepoint and cross stitch both sit inside it. In everyday use, though, "embroidery" usually means surface embroidery, sometimes called freestyle embroidery.
Surface embroidery is worked independently of the weave. You can stitch on almost any fabric, in any direction, with a sharp embroidery or crewel needle that pierces the fabric. The design is usually drawn onto the fabric first, or worked by eye.
Where cross stitch has one main stitch, surface embroidery has a whole library of them: stem stitch for lines, satin stitch for smooth filled shapes, chain stitch, and French knots for small raised dots. Stranded cotton is probably the most popular thread, and wool, silk and metallic threads are all used. Crewelwork is surface embroidery in crewel wool, and it was especially popular in Britain in the early 1600s.
Embroidery can also be worked by machine. This guide is about stitching by hand.
Needlepoint vs embroidery
Needlepoint is a form of embroidery worked on canvas, with stitches placed according to its grid. In surface embroidery, stitch placement is independent of the fabric's weave, so lines and shapes can run in any direction.
The needles are different too. A tapestry needle has a large eye and a blunt point that slips through the holes of canvas or Aida. An embroidery or crewel needle is sharp, because it has to pierce the fabric.
The two crafts meet on a needlepoint canvas, where plenty of embroidery stitches work beautifully. On my Plum Stitchery Nutcracker stocking, I kept the main figures in continental and basketweave and added texture only where it helped the design. Along the way I had the chance to try a few new techniques, from the turkey work on the curtain fringe and tutus to the elongated French knots in Clara's hair. It was meant to be ready for Christmas 2025, but I'm glad I took my time.
Is needlepoint easier than cross stitch or embroidery?
It depends on how you like to work, and a small design with clear instructions can be a good starting point in any of these crafts. Counted cross stitch may suit you if you enjoy following a chart. For a design already marked on the material, you could try stamped cross stitch or a painted or printed needlepoint canvas. Surface embroidery lets you trace a pattern or draw your own.
Each craft needs slightly different things to begin:
- Cross stitch: even-weave fabric such as Aida, stranded cotton, a blunt needle, a hoop and a chart.
- Surface embroidery: fabric, a sharp embroidery needle, thread and a design to draw or trace.
- Needlepoint: a canvas, a tapestry needle, and thread that suits the mesh so it covers the canvas.
If you're weighing up a first needlepoint project, my guide to choosing a first kit goes through what to look for.
What goes into the price of a needlepoint kit
The canvas, the hand-painting, the hand-bound edges and the threads all contribute to the price of our needlepoint kits. I've explained each one in why needlepoint costs what it does.
Which suits you?
- Choose cross stitch if you love counting, enjoy watching a picture appear square by square, and would like a framed sampler or picture at the end.
- Choose surface embroidery if you want to draw with thread, on clothes, linen or a piece for a hoop on the wall.
- Choose needlepoint if you'd like to stitch on an open canvas, perhaps following a painted design for a keyring or passport cover.
For stitchers in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada, our self-finishing keyring kits offer a small needlepoint project with no sewing needed to finish it.
The Initial Keyring Needlepoint Kit (A$69.95) has a hand-painted 13 mesh canvas with your initial, Silk & Ivory threads, a size 20 tapestry needle and a self-finishing keyring in pink or blue. Or browse all our needlepoint and tapestry kits.
We ship to Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada. Oz Needle & Thread represents our designs in the US. US stitchers can contact Oz for help finding a stockist, with Matilda designs stocked in shops across the US including Le Fil Studio in Los Angeles and KC Needlepoint.
Quick answers
Is needlepoint a type of embroidery?
Yes. Needlepoint, also called canvaswork, is embroidery worked on an open canvas, usually covered completely by the stitching. When people say embroidery on its own, they usually mean surface stitching on ordinary fabric.
Can you use a cross stitch chart for needlepoint?
Yes. Each full square on the chart becomes one tent stitch over one canvas intersection, so the finished size depends on the mesh you stitch it on. Needlepoint charts work the same way, and I turn my own sketches into charts in Stitchly.
Can I needlepoint if I already cross stitch?
Yes. A lot carries over, including the blunt needle, reading colours and working one small stitch at a time, and needlepoint can be worked from a chart as well as from a painted canvas. You can start with tent stitch, a diagonal stitch over one intersection of the canvas threads.
Can you cross stitch on needlepoint canvas?
You can. Cross stitch has long been worked on canvas, and canvaswork cross stitch was very popular in Berlin wool work by the middle of the 19th century.
What's the difference between crewel embroidery and needlepoint?
Crewelwork is surface embroidery in crewel wool, stitched freely on fabric with a sharp needle. Needlepoint is stitched through the holes of an open canvas, usually in tent stitch, until the canvas is covered.
Happy stitching,
Lauren x