Needlepoint tool
Needlepoint thread calculator
About how much thread will this area take?
Example
Estimated thread
36 yards 33 m
An estimate for 5,184 stitches on 18 mesh: 4 × 4 in, all one color.
Type your own numbers to change it.
Estimated skeins
Type the length printed on the label of one skein to turn the estimate into skeins.
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.
How this estimate is worked out
yards = stitches × (path in canvas threads / mesh) × 1.3 / 36
4 × 4 in (10.2 × 10.2 cm) on 18 mesh holds 72 × 72 = 5,184 stitches. Basketweave or continental uses 3.41 canvas threads for each stitch.
With these numbers: 5,184 × (3.41 / 18) × 1.3 / 36 = 35.46 yards, rounded up to 36.
In meters, at 0.9144 to the yard: 35.46 × 0.9144 = 32.43 m, rounded up to 33. Each length is rounded up once, so the estimate is never short.
The 1.3 in it is the allowance: 30 percent on top of the thread the stitches use. Our suggestion
| Mesh | Stitches | Estimated thread |
|---|---|---|
| 10 mesh | 1,600 | 20 yards19 m |
| 12 mesh | 2,304 | 24 yards22 m |
| 13 mesh | 2,704 | 26 yards24 m |
| 14 mesh | 3,136 | 28 yards26 m |
| 18 mesh | 5,184 | 36 yards33 m |
“Our suggestion” marks advice that is this site’s own, not a figure from a published chart.
Estimated yards of thread for one square inch, with the 30 percent allowance
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Stitch | 10 mesh | 12 mesh | 13 mesh | 14 mesh | 18 mesh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basketweave or continental | 1.23 | 1.48 | 1.6 | 1.72 | 2.22 |
| Half cross | 0.87 | 1.04 | 1.13 | 1.22 | 1.57 |
| Upright over 4 canvas threads | 0.81 | 0.98 | 1.06 | 1.14 | 1.46 |
- Every figure is an estimate, in yards of thread as it is threaded in the needle: the length 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.
- Held against two published figures. One shop's rule of thumb is a yard and a half for a square inch of basketweave, with no mesh or thread named: the estimate is lower than that on 10 mesh, level with it on 12 mesh and higher from 13 mesh up, by about half on 18 mesh. One teacher gives 33, 53, 54 and 58 inches of tapestry wool (0.92, 1.47, 1.5 and 1.61 yards) for a square inch on 10, 12, 13 and 14 mesh, and no single figure for 18 mesh: the estimate is level with those on 12 mesh, about 7 percent higher on 13 and 14 mesh and about a third higher on 10 mesh.
- The half cross and upright figures are geometry only: no published figure was found to hold them against.
How it works
- The 30 percent allowance is this site's own choice. No source gives a figure. Our suggestion
- Continental is given basketweave's figure. Published sources say it uses a little less thread than basketweave and more than half cross, so the estimate never ranks it above basketweave.
- Buy all of a background color at once, from one dye lot.
- When you need two strands, use two separate strands; do not fold one double.
- The yards are of thread as it is threaded in the needle. A thread stitched with several strands together takes that many yards of single strand for every yard of the estimate. Our suggestion
- Type the length printed on your skein or card to turn yards into skeins. Makers and thread lines differ, so no skein lengths are built in. The skeins are counted for a thread used whole, as it comes off the skein. For a thread you divide, multiply the skeins by the strands you stitch with, divide by the strands in the skein and round up: stitched with 7 strands of a six-strand thread, every 6 skeins counted are 7 to buy. Our suggestion
Worked examples
- 4 by 4 inches on 18 mesh, basketweave, all one color
- 5,184 stitches; an estimate of 36 yards (33 m).
- 4 by 4 inches on 13 mesh, basketweave, all one color
- 2,704 stitches; an estimate of 26 yards (24 m).
Questions
- How many yards of thread for a square inch of needlepoint?
- Two published figures, each an estimate: one shop's rule of thumb is a yard and a half for basketweave, with no mesh named, and one teacher gives 33 to 58 inches of tapestry wool (0.92 to 1.61 yards) on 10 to 14 mesh. This calculator's estimates, with its own 30 percent allowance, are in the table above.
- Does basketweave use more thread than continental?
- A little more, and both use more than half cross. The estimate gives continental the basketweave figure, the higher of the two.