Needlepoint guide
How to start and end a thread
Needlepoint is finished without knots. A knot left on the back makes a bump. Tails are trapped under stitches instead.
Starting with a waste knot
- Knot the end of the thread.
- From the front, take the needle down through the canvas an inch or so (2 to 3 cm) from where you will begin, in the path your stitches are about to travel.
- Bring the needle up at your starting point and stitch toward the knot. The stitches cover the thread lying on the back.
- When you reach the knot, pull it up gently and snip it off close to the canvas.
Starting next to stitches that are already there
Turn the canvas over, run the needle under a few stitches on the back, and come up where you want to begin. Two or three stitches are enough to hold it.
The away knot
Some stitches leave too little thread on the back to cover a tail as you go. For those, put the knot off to the side instead of in the path of the stitches, far enough away to leave a tail you can thread. After you have stitched a little, cut the knot off, thread the tail into a needle and tuck it under the back of your stitches.
Ending
Run the needle under a few stitches on the back and trim the thread close. With basketweave, run the tail horizontally or vertically along the back, never down a diagonal row, where it leaves a line on the front that blocking will not take out.
Things to watch
- Bury a tail under stitches of its own color where you can. A tail run under another color can show through as a ghost.
- Trim tails close to the canvas.
- Slippery threads need a longer tail, or a second pass back the way you came.
- Open stitches may not put enough thread on the back to hold a tail. Use an away knot, and bury the tail behind a solid part of the design.