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Spires bargello needlepoint pattern

Beginner · 5 colors · 5 × 5 in · 18 mesh

Colors: BluesChange

Spires bargello: 90 by 90 canvas threads in upright stitches.

Download free PDFPDF, US Letter · 60 KB

Rows of upright stitches climb in curves to narrow points and dip in rounded scoops between them. The rows repeat from top to bottom in blues that run from navy to pale blue.

Size and details

The chart is 90 × 90 canvas threads: a sample of a pattern that repeats, the size of a tray insert on 18 mesh. A tray insert is a square of needlepoint that is set into a tray made with an opening for it. The chart shows about 5 and a half repeats across and about 4 and a half down; one repeat is 16 × 20 canvas threads. The pattern can be carried on to any size.

Worked in upright stitches over 4 canvas threads; some along the top and bottom edges are shorter, to end at the edge.

Beginner: 5 colors. The chart is in long upright stitches over more than 1 canvas thread, and every band of color is the same shape as the band above it, so only the first has to be followed from the chart. With up to 7 colors, that is Beginner, and with more it is Intermediate.

Colors

The sample in the chart, on each mesh
MeshStitched sizeCanvas to cut
109 × 9 in
22.9 × 22.9 cm		13 × 13 in
33 × 33 cm
127.5 × 7.5 in
19.1 × 19.1 cm		11.5 × 11.5 in
29.2 × 29.2 cm
136.9 × 6.9 in
17.6 × 17.6 cm		10.9 × 10.9 in
27.7 × 27.7 cm
146.4 × 6.4 in
16.3 × 16.3 cm		10.4 × 10.4 in
26.5 × 26.5 cm
185 × 5 in
12.7 × 12.7 cm		9 × 9 in
22.9 × 22.9 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

Blues

  • DMC 799 Medium Delft Blue 1,696 squares about 8 yards
  • DMC 797 Royal Blue 1,665 squares about 8 yards
  • DMC 809 Delft Blue 1,602 squares about 8 yards
  • DMC 823 Dark Navy Blue 1,586 squares about 8 yards
  • DMC 800 Pale Delft Blue 1,551 squares about 8 yards

8,100 squares in the chart, one canvas thread each, about 40 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) and a tapestry needle. The table above sizes the sample charted: for a bigger piece, cut the canvas to the size you will stitch and 2 in more on every side.

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 upright over 4 canvas threads 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 canvas thread. 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

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.

New to needlepoint? How to needlepoint

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