Featured Kit

Road to the Port design on penelope canvas with DMC yarns.

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How To Stitch A Penelope Needlepoint Canvas

Penelope needlepoint canvas is not the easiest thing in the world to stitch, but the effects can be stunning.

The beauty of a penelope canvas is that the stitcher can use both petit point and gros point on the same design.

For finely detailed areas, a petit point stitch can really bring out the detail, and for background or large areas, gros point can allow for a speedier finish.

Here's how.

Penelope needlepoint canvas is also called double canvas because it is made up of double threads that intersect.

If you only stitch the large holes, this is called gros point and it is best for larger design areas.

If you stitch every hole then this is petit point and you can get fine detail this way. To do petit point you need to "split" the mesh in order to stitch every single hole, big and small.

The best use of a penelope canvas is when you use a combination of gros point and petit point, depending on the design area you are stitching.

In this photo, the upper stitched area is petit point. The stitches look very small and close together. You can imagine this would work well if you had fine detailing to do.

In the lower stitched area, we have done gros point, stitching only the large holes, and it looks like regular needlepoint.

As a general rule, it is best to decide ahead of time which design areas of your penelope needlepoint you will stitch in petit point and do these first, filling in with gros point later.

The only real downside to a penelope needlepoint canvas is that it tends to distort more than mono canvas. Using stretcher bars will help. You may need to block your needlepoint twice to get it back into shape once it is stitched.

Contact us with questions about penelope needlepoint canvas.

You will find needlepoint kits on penelope canvas here.