Textile Research Centre

Needlepoint can use many different stitches, but the most common stitch is called tent stitch.

According to the Textile Research Center, or TRC, in Leiden, Netherlands, tent stitch is an umbrella term for any, quote, small diagonal stitch that crosses the intersection between the horizontal and vertical threads of the ground material.

It comes from the French word tenter, which means to stretch.

In other episodes, we have said that tent stitch is the same as half cross stitch, but it's not.