Classic mermaid tail needlepoint pattern
Advanced · 12 colors · 4 × 4 in · 18 mesh
Download free PDFPDF, US Letter · 29 KB
A teal and green mermaid tail with scales edged in pale aqua rises from a white splash, its two flukes spread wide at the top. Dark blue waves with white caps roll below a peach background with no border.
Size and details
The chart is 72 × 72 stitches: a square ornament on 18 mesh canvas.
Worked in tent stitch throughout.
Advanced: 12 colors. Changes of color are about 3 stitches apart, leaving out the background around the picture. With 10 colors or more, closer than 4.5 apart is Advanced, 4.5 or more is Intermediate, and a design with this many colors is never Beginner.
| Mesh | Stitched size | Canvas to cut |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 7.2 × 7.2 in 18.3 × 18.3 cm | 11.2 × 11.2 in 28.4 × 28.4 cm |
| 12 | 6 × 6 in 15.2 × 15.2 cm | 10 × 10 in 25.4 × 25.4 cm |
| 13 | 5.5 × 5.5 in 14.1 × 14.1 cm | 9.5 × 9.5 in 24.2 × 24.2 cm |
| 14 | 5.1 × 5.1 in 13.1 × 13.1 cm | 9.1 × 9.1 in 23.2 × 23.2 cm |
| 18 | 4 × 4 in 10.2 × 10.2 cm | 8 × 8 in 20.3 × 20.3 cm |
Mesh is the number of canvas threads to the inch; the row in bold is the mesh this chart is sized for. Canvas to cut includes a margin of 2 in (5.1 cm) of bare canvas on every side. Leave at least that much.
Paper for the PDF
Threads and canvas
- DMC 353 Peach 3,014 stitches about 21 yards
- DMC 825 Dark Blue 426 stitches about 3 yards
- DMC 3812 Very Dark Seagreen 352 stitches about 3 yards
- DMC 797 Royal Blue 312 stitches about 3 yards
- DMC 823 Dark Navy Blue 236 stitches about 2 yards
- DMC 959 Medium Seagreen 222 stitches about 2 yards
- DMC BLANC White 170 stitches about 2 yards
- DMC 909 Very Dark Emerald Green 167 stitches about 2 yards
- DMC 3844 Dark Bright Turquoise 110 stitches about 1 yard
- DMC 3811 Very Light Turquoise 107 stitches about 1 yard
- DMC 800 Pale Delft Blue 61 stitches about 1 yard
- DMC 890 Ultra Dark Pistachio Green 7 stitches about 1 yard
5,184 stitches in the chart, about 42 yards in all. The yards are estimates for 18 mesh.
Thread colors are approximate screen matches to DMC numbers. Check against real thread before you buy.
The numbers are DMC color numbers, which its six-strand cotton and its pearl cotton share. Wool and silk are numbered differently: match those by eye. For how many strands and which needle, see which thread suits which mesh.
The yards are of thread as it is threaded in the needle: stitched with several strands together, a thread takes that many yards of single strand for every yard listed. For six-strand cotton on 18 mesh, the thread and needle chart gives 4 to 6 strands.
You also need blank needlepoint canvas (mono canvas) in the mesh you choose (see mesh sizes), cut to the size in the table above, and a tapestry needle.
An estimate. The length of thread one stitch uses on the front and back of the canvas, times the number of stitches, plus 30 percent for starting, ending and the tail left in the needle. Each count is estimated as basketweave or continental and rounded up to a whole yard, so the yards in all are a little more than the thread calculator gives for every stitch at once. The 30 percent is this site's own choice. The thread calculator works the same estimate for any count and mesh.
Getting it onto your canvas
This is a counted chart: one square of the chart is one stitch. Find the center of your canvas and the center of the chart (the red arrows above and to the left of the chart), and count out from there, a color at a time.
Nothing is printed on the canvas, so no transfer is needed. How to needlepoint covers the first stitches.
Downloads
- Chart for US Letter paper PDF · 2 pages
- Chart for A4 paper PDF · 2 pages
Each file has the thread key and the sizes on its first page, then the chart with a symbol in every square and a heavier line every ten. A chart too large for one page is divided over several, with two rows or columns repeated in gray where the pages join; a page may be turned on its side for a part that is wider than it is tall.
For your own stitching, gifts and handmade pieces you sell. Do not resell or share this PDF.
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