• Home
  • Suggest A Craft
  • DIY Newsletter

Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

  • About CraftGossip
  • Our Network
    • Bath & Body Crafts
    • Candle Making Ideas
    • Crochet Ideas
    • Cross Stitch
    • Edible Crafts
    • Felting Patterns
    • Glass Art
    • Home & Garden Ideas
    • Indie Crafts
    • Jewelry Making
    • Kids Crafts
    • Knitting Patterns
    • Lesson Plans
    • Needlework
    • Party Ideas
    • Polymer Clay
    • Quilting Ideas
    • Recycled Crafts
    • Scrapbooking
    • Sewing Patterns
    • Card Making
    • DIY Weddings
    • Not Craft Ideas
  • Giveaways
  • Roundups
  • Store
  • Search

What’s the Difference Between Cross Stitch and Embroidery?

January 8, 2024 by Sarah White

The other day I wrote a post that included the information that a project could be worked as cross stitch, needlepoint or petit point, and I have to admit I’m not totally sure what the difference between all those terms is. Throw in the more general term “embroidery,” and we’re probably all sure what we’re talking about, but maybe not exactly what each of those words means.

I got to thinking about this when I saw this post about cross stitch versus embroidery from Laura Radniecki. As she points out, any decorative work on fabric that uses a needle and thread is embroidery.

Cross stitch is usually worked on gridded fabric (though you can use water-soluble cross-stitch fabric to make cross stitch designs on fabric without a grid) and is mostly made with full or partial x shapes worked into the grid. I tend to think of needlepoint and embroidery as meaning the same thing, but needlepoint is really another genre that uses different stitches to make designs on the surface of fabric. As this post from needlepoint.com points out, needlepoint uses lots of different stitches to make different effects and is generally more detailed and requires more skill than cross stitch.

So what about petit point? This point from Sirious Stitches educates me/us: petit point is basically half stitches, or what the needlepointers might call continental or tent stitch. Petit point projects are worked on fine gauge fabric to make them small (makes sense, given the name). So you can use regular cross-stitch patterns in petit point, you just want to choose patterns that are mostly made with full stitches and use a smaller (aka higher count) fabric so that the whole design comes out smaller.

Because the fabric is so fine it’s hard to tell the difference between cross stitch and petit point from a distance, but if you want to try it you can play with how many threads to use on different counts of fabric to get a nice, full look.

Have you ever done needlepoint or petit point? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

Next Pattern:

  • 35+ Sunflower Cross Stitch Patterns
«
»

Have you read?

A Cross Stitch I Spy at the Beach

That headline pretty much describes the Under the Sea cross stitch pattern from Una Buena Pieza, which is covered with shells, fish and other creatures of the sea. It’s not intended to be an I spy, I don’t think, and most of the same kinds of animals are grouped together, but I think it would be fun for someone who didn’t stitch it to look and see what different things they can find within.

The pattern includes turtles, jellyfish, a whale, shark, ray, all sorts of fish and shells and I’m sure other things that I’m not noticing right now. Dolphins! Coral! Seagulls!

It looks like it would be super fun to stitch and fun to have on the wall during the summer months, or even hang in a kid’s room if you know a young one who loves the beach or ocean animals.

The design is 110 by 220 stitches. It comes out to about 8 by 16 inches, or 20 by 40 cm, when stitched on 14 count fabric. It calls for 19 colors.

This design looks great on light blue fabric as shown, but in the pattern listing on Etsy you’ll also see what it looks like on a darker blue and a white fabric, and they all look pretty good so you can use whatever color you like to suit your decor or your idea of what color the “ocean” should be. There’s even a customer photo that looks like it was done on a sort of tie-dyed green fabricc, which is really fun.

However you stitch it, I think this project would go faster than you imagine because there are so many fun little things to stitch. It will be hard to get bored when you can just move on to a different animal or part of the design.

Check out this pattern from Una Buena Pieza on Etsy.

[Photo: Una Buena Pieza]

Categories

Book Reviews Christmas Craft Businesses Craft Inspirations Craft News and Events Cross-Stitch Patterns & Charts Cross-Stitch Product Reviews Cross-Stitch Website Reviews Dogs & Cats Easter flowers Free Patterns Halloween More Cross Stitch Product Reviews spring Subversive Thanksgiving Tutorials and Patterns valentines day

RSS More Articles

  • The Perfect Sewing Guide for Making Indian Clothes
  • Minecraft Learning Activities
  • Knit a Spiky Balaclava
  • 12 Scrapbook Layout Ideas using Repeated Shapes
  • Upcycling or Hoarding? Why Your DIY Projects Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good
  • Circle Of Leaves Afghan Pattern
  • Make a Stunning DIY Paper Vase – A Creative and Budget-Friendly Craft
  • How to Make a Rag Quilt – An Easy, Cozy Beginner-Friendly Tutorial
  • A Cross Stitch I Spy at the Beach
  • This Artist’s Breathtaking Embroidery Paintings Will Make You Rethink Needlework Forever

Pick Your Blog

  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Quilting
  • Crochet
  • Home & Garden
  • Recycled Crafts
  • Scrapbooking
  • Card Making
  • Polymer Clay
  • Cross-Stitch
  • Edible Crafts
  • Felting
  • Glass Art
  • Indie Crafts
  • Kids Crafts
  • Jewelry Making
  • Lesson Plans
  • Needlework
  • Bath & Body
  • Party Ideas
  • Candle Making
  • DIY Weddings
  • Not Craft
  • Free Craft Projects

Copyright © 2025 · CraftGossip | Start Here | Contact Us | Link to Us | Your Editors | Privacy and affiliate policy