{"title":"How to Do the Continental (Tent) Stitch in Needlepoint","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/embroidery/how-to-do-the-continental-stitch","category":{"slug":"embroidery","name":"Embroidery"},"creator":{"name":"KC Needlepoint","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoUPuhSYD_hwY7Fxv_oSckA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7HX0CyrDr0"},"tldr":"Learn the continental tent stitch in needlepoint: rows left and right, columns up and down, plus how to start and end your thread with no knots.","quickAnswer":"Learn the continental tent stitch in needlepoint: rows left and right, columns up and down, plus how to start and end your thread with no knots. An easy project: about 30 minutes. Materials cost about $8 to $20. You need 5 things, including 13 mesh mono needlepoint canvas, tapestry needle and small embroidery scissors. The 9 steps start with tie a Waste Knot in the End of the Needlepoint Thread and lay the Waste Knot on Top of the Needlepoint Canvas.","totalDurationSeconds":273,"videoDurationSeconds":273,"difficulty":"easy","project":{"difficulty":"easy","projectMinutes":30,"waitMinutes":null,"totalMinutes":30,"estimatedCost":{"currency":"USD","min":8,"max":20},"yield":null},"tools":["tapestry needle (size 18 or 20)","small embroidery scissors","needlepoint frame or stretcher bars (optional)"],"materials":["13 mesh mono needlepoint canvas","pearl cotton size 5 or needlepoint wool"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Tie a Waste Knot in the End of the Needlepoint Thread","text":"Thread your tapestry needle. Then go to the far end of the thread, the end opposite the needle, and tie a plain overhand knot. That is your waste knot. It will anchor the thread on the front of the canvas while you make the first few stitches, and it comes off later. A blunt tapestry needle slides through the canvas holes without splitting the threads."},{"number":2,"title":"Lay the Waste Knot on Top of the Needlepoint Canvas","text":"Push the needle down from the front about an inch away from where your first stitch will go. Pull until the knot sits on top of the canvas. Place it in the path you are about to stitch. As you work toward it, the thread running along the back gets trapped under your new stitches and holds tight without any knot on the back."},{"number":3,"title":"Make the First Continental Stitch From Bottom Left to Top Right","text":"Each continental stitch covers one canvas intersection, the spot where a vertical and a horizontal thread cross. Four holes surround it. When you are working to the left, bring the needle up through the bottom left hole and take it down through the top right hole. Pull until the stitch lies flat. That one slant is the whole stitch."},{"number":4,"title":"Work a Row of Continental Stitches to the Left","text":"Come up again in the hole directly to the left of where your last stitch started. Go down top right, which is the hole your last stitch came up from. Keep repeating. Every stitch sits right beside the one before, all leaning the same way, and the row grows to the left. Your waste knot tail gets caught under the stitches on the back as you go."},{"number":5,"title":"Turn and Stitch the Next Continental Row to the Right","text":"At the end of the row, drop down to the intersection right below your last stitch. Now you are working to the right, so the direction flips. Come up through the top right hole and go down through the bottom left hole. The front looks the same as before. The back gets a long slanted stitch, which gives you good coverage and something to weave through later."},{"number":6,"title":"Work the Continental Stitch Down a Canvas Column","text":"Columns follow the same idea as rows. When you are stitching downward, come up in the bottom left hole and go down in the top right hole. Your next stitch sits directly below the last one. Single columns like this are where continental shines: letters, outlines, borders and narrow stems that basketweave cannot reach."},{"number":7,"title":"Work the Continental Stitch Up a Canvas Column","text":"Going up a column, reverse it. Come up in the top right hole and go down in the bottom left. Then turn the canvas over and look at the back. Each stitch should leave a long, slanted thread behind it. If you see short straight stitches instead, you have made a half cross stitch, which covers less and wears through sooner."},{"number":8,"title":"Weave the Thread Under the Stitches on the Back of the Canvas","text":"When your thread runs short, or you want to change colors, flip the canvas to the back. Run the needle under the slanted back stitches of four or five stitches nearby. Slide it along the surface and do not poke through to the front, or the thread will show. The tight back stitches grip the tail so it cannot work loose."},{"number":9,"title":"Trim the Thread Tail and Waste Knot on the Needlepoint","text":"Snip the woven tail close to the back of the canvas. Then turn back to the front and find your waste knot. The stitches you made over its thread now hold it in place, so you can cut the knot off right at the canvas. Small sharp scissors make this easy. That is the whole continental stitch, start to finish, with no knots left anywhere."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-10-17T13:42:57.858Z","published":"2026-10-17T13:42:57.584Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}