On 17 September 2010, Austria Post issued a miniature sheet featuring a Petit Point embroidered flower "Rose" at the centre of the paper sheet — one of the most famous embroidered stamps ever produced.
What is Petit Point?
Petit Point got its name due to the fact that one can only recognise small dots (points) by looking at the embroidery. There is a substantial difference between 'Needlepoint' and 'Petit Point'.
Needlepoint is stitched with thick woollen threads on large canvas, whereas Petit Point is stitched with only one thread on a fine silk gauze. Patterns for needlepoint are printed on the canvas, while Petit Point requires hand painted patterns, which are used by the artisan to count the stitches and carry them over to the silk gauze. Common needlepoint work has around 80 stitches per square inch, while most Petit Point articles have about 1,460 stitches.
The Petit Point Stitch
The Petit Point stitch runs on diagonals and crosses over an intersection of one horizontal and one vertical thread, making a slanted stitch at a 45-degree angle. The thread count, or number of stitches to the inch, is very small — hence the name petit, meaning "small point". This stitch enables the sewer to create pictures and other objects down to their minutest details.
Part of Viennese Culture
Petit Point is part of Viennese culture. Both the imperial and aristocratic classes held the habit of creating stitches as fine and valuable as Petit Point, worked with the finest of threads. With this issue, Austria celebrated another philatelic treasure: the incorporation of Petit Point on its postage stamps, courtesy of Hammerle & Vogel, an embroidery company in Austria.
Technical Specifications
| Issue Date | 17 September 2010 |
| Issuing Authority | Austria Post |
| Format | Miniature sheet |
| Motif | Petit Point embroidered flower "Rose" at the centre of the sheet |
| Technique | Real Petit Point embroidery on fine silk gauze |
| Production | Hammerle & Vogel, embroidery company, Austria |
| Heritage | Viennese Petit Point needlework tradition |
Why Collectors Care
The Petit Point "Rose" miniature sheet is a landmark of tactile philately. Like Austria Post's earlier embroidered stamps, it combines genuine hand-crafted needlework with the postage stamp format — something rarely attempted by any postal administration. For collectors of Austrian stamps, embroidery and textile philately, or innovative stamp technology, this issue is a beautiful, authentic piece of both philatelic and Viennese cultural history.
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