Featured Kit

Jakarta belt buckle kit. Stitch your own and wear it proudly.

Newsletter Sign Up

Get our FREE newsletter with tips and techniques, new products and sale items. It's a quick, fun and informative read. Delivered FREE to your in-box every two weeks.

As a THANK YOU for signing up we will email you a 10% discount coupon.

Rest assured, we will never share, rent, or sell your info to anyone.

Which Needlepoint Canvas Should I Use?

Needlepoint canvas is usually made of cotton and is most commonly white or beige in color. The cotton makes it easy to wash and handle. It is open-weave and comes in a variety of mesh sizes (or degrees of "openness"). We will tell you about the three most commonly used needlepoint canvas types.

Mono Needlepoint Canvas

Mono canvas is what is called a single mesh canvas and is probably what you will see most often.

Mono comes in a variety of sizes - 7 through 18. The size relates to the number of threads per inch, so the smaller the number, the larger the "holes" in the canvas - or the more "open" the weave.

A size 18 canvas would be used for small projects and/or where the design is very detailed. It will take longer to work a size 18 mesh canvas than it will a size 10 canvas of the same dimension. For a beginner, size 10 or 12 mono canvas is a great way to start.

The size of canvas you choose will also depend upon the thread you plan to use. The thread should glide smoothly through the mesh. If the mesh is too small it will shred the thread. If the mesh is too large the thread will not cover the canvas and the canvas will show through. Not a good look!

So when choosing a mesh size you need to consider not only the design you want to stitch, but also the thread you plan to use.

Interlock Canvas

Interlock is also a single weave, like mono, but the threads are twisted together which makes them a bit more rigid - harder to accommodate a variety of stitches but fine if you are just stitching a half cross. There are different mesh sizes as with mono.

Penelope Canvas

This is a double weave canvas and so two threads, not just one, are woven together to form a mesh. Penelope canvas is popular for "petit point" which is where the canvas threads are split so that very small stitches can be done to create fine detail. Penelope canvas is available in 10/20 mesh size - it is 10 holes per inch if only counting the large holes and 20 holes per inch if counting all the holes.