Glossary - N

Needle
Small, slender piece of steel with a hole for thread and a point for stitching fabric. A machine needle differs from a handwork needle; the machine needle's eye is found at its pointed end. Machine embroidery needles come with sharp points for piercing heavy, tightly woven fabrics; ball points, which glide between the fibres of knits; and a variety of specialty points, such as wedge points, which are used for leather.

Needlepoint
Needlepoint is a form of canvas work created on a mesh canvas. The stitching threads used may be wool, silk, or rarely cotton. Stitches may be plain, covering just one mesh intersection with a single orientation, or fancy, such as bargello. Plain stitches may be worked as basketweave or half cross. Basketweave uses the most wool, but does not distort the rectangular mesh.

Needlework
Needlework is another term for the handicraft of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework. The definition is often expanded to include craft using a long and thin tool, such as crochet hook and tatting shuttles.

Nylon
A synthetic fibre first discovered by DuPont (now Invista) chemists in 1938, but not used in carpet until much later. Today it is the most often used fibre for carpet (Fabrica uses it exclusively in our synthetic products) and can come in either filament or staple form. Features include cleanability, dyeability, stain and soil resistance, resistance to abrasion, ability to recover resiliency, moth proof, mildew proof, non-allergenic and colour retention.