Bargello Needlepoint: How Flame Stitch Works, With Diagrams

Bargello is needlepoint worked entirely in vertical straight stitches, traditionally each over four canvas threads, with every stitch stepped up or down from the one beside it, usually by two threads. Stitch one row along a stepped line, then repeat that line in row after row of graded colors, and the stepping turns into flames, waves, and zigzags. It's also called Florentine work or flame stitch.

What bargello is

Most needlepoint is built from tent stitch, one small diagonal per canvas intersection. Bargello uses a single straight stitch instead: the needle comes up in one hole and goes down in the hole four threads directly above it, so the stitch lies vertically between two canvas threads.

The pattern comes from where each stitch starts. If every stitch started at the same height you'd get plain horizontal stripes. Bargello offsets each stitch from its neighbor, usually by half its length (two threads), so a row climbs and falls across the canvas. The next row follows exactly the same line directly underneath, in the next color, and so on until the area is full.

The name comes from Florence. According to the Royal School of Needlework's Stitch Bank, a set of seventeenth-century chairs in the Bargello Palace there is upholstered in this technique, though the technique itself is older and its origins are unclear. The same stitch also goes by flame stitch, Florentine stitch, Hungarian stitch, and Irish stitch.

One note if you're searching for patterns: "bargello" is also a quilting technique, where strips of fabric are offset to make the same kind of flames. Quilt patterns and needlepoint patterns share the name and the look but not the method.

The first row sets the pattern

The whole design lives in the first row. Stitch it carefully, counting every step, and the rest of the piece copies it.

Every later row shares holes with the row above. The top of each new stitch goes into the hole where the stitch above it ended. You aren't counting anymore; you're following. That makes bargello quick and relaxing once it's set up, and it's why a miscount in the first row is costly: it repeats in every row after it.

Flames, waves, and step size

The shape of a bargello line comes from two things: how far each stitch steps from its neighbor, and how many stitches sit at each height before the line moves.

• One stitch per step makes steep, sharp points: the classic flame.
• Several stitches at the same height flatten the line, so peaks become plateaus and the pattern reads as a wave or a curve.
• Bigger steps (stitches over 6 threads stepped by 3, for example) make taller, more dramatic flames. Smaller steps make a gentler pattern.

Combining these within a line is how bargello designers draw curves, hearts, and medallions out of a stitch that only goes up and down. Some designs go further and work the pattern out from a center point in four directions, making kaleidoscope-like squares.

How to start a bargello piece

1. Find the center of the canvas. Fold it in half both ways and mark where the folds cross.
2. Stitch the first row from the center out. Working outward to each side means the pattern ends the same way at both edges. If the pattern has a peak, center the peak.
3. Fill the rows below, then above. Each row follows the one before it, sharing holes. Work each row in its color all the way across before starting the next.
4. Compensate at the top and bottom. Where the area ends, the stepped rows leave gaps of one to three threads. Fill them with shorter straight stitches so the edge comes out straight.

Keep your tension relaxed and even. Pulled tight, straight stitches narrow and let the canvas show between columns.

Choosing colors for bargello

The classic approach is shading: four to six shades of one color family, graded from dark to light, repeating in order. The steps in the line then read as light falling across a surface, and the flames seem to flicker. Bargello stitched in random colors loses that effect and looks like stripes.

A few guidelines:

• Grade evenly. Neighboring shades should be about the same distance apart. A big jump between two shades breaks the flame into separate bands.
• Add one accent. A contrasting color as one row in each repeat (a gold in a run of blues, say) outlines the shape of the line.
• Mind the dye lots. Each color appears in long rows across the whole piece, so a dye-lot change is visible. Buy each shade at once.

If you're planning colors on paper, color in one repeat of the line in each shade before you buy. It's much cheaper to change your mind in colored pencil than in wool.

Canvas and thread

Bargello is usually worked on mono canvas. The straight stitches sit neatly between its single threads, and the stitch doesn't pull the canvas out of shape the way diagonal stitches do, so it's forgiving to work on stretcher bars or in hand. The canvas types guide compares mono, interlock, and Penelope.

The thread has to be full enough to hide the canvas, because straight stitches cover less than tent stitches. A good starting point is one ply or strand more than tent stitch needs on the same mesh: if the thread guide suggests two plies of Persian wool for tent on 13 mesh, try three for bargello. Stitch a test row of the pattern in the margin and look at it from a couple of feet away before committing.

Wool is the traditional thread and gives the soft, matte flame people picture. Stranded cotton and silk give a glossier finish, but they need laying (stroking the strands flat so they sit side by side) to cover evenly. Brick stitch, the other common straight stitch, follows the same thread rules.

Charting bargello

Bargello charts look different from tent-stitch charts. Instead of one square per stitch, they draw each stitch as a vertical bar over four grid lines, usually for one or two repeats of the line. Since every row copies the first, the chart only needs to show one repeat of the line plus the color order.

What Stitchmate (stitchmate.app) can and can't do: it charts tent and petite stitches, not straight stitches, so it can't chart true bargello. Two things it can do well:

• Chart a bargello-style flame in tent stitch. The same flame line, worked with one tent stitch per intersection, keeps the look while staying chartable. The result is finer and flatter than true bargello and takes longer to stitch, but it can sit inside a larger tent-stitch design.
• Plan colors on a grid. Any grid helps you try color orders for a line before you buy thread.

Common mistakes

A miscount in the first row. Every row copies the first, so one wrong step repeats down the whole piece. Count the first row twice, or stitch it in a scrap color first and replace it once you've checked it.

Thread too thin. Canvas shows between the columns. Add a ply.

Shades too far apart. The flame breaks into stripes. Pick shades that step evenly from dark to light.

Starting at the edge. Starting at one side means the pattern ends partway through a repeat on the other. Start at the center.

Further reading

• RSN Stitch Bank: Florentine stitch — the Royal School of Needlework on the stitch, its names, and its history
• Wikipedia: Bargello (needlework) — history and pattern types
• Unwind Studio: Bargello wave — a step-by-step wave tutorial with photos
• Needlery: Bargello canvaswork — an overview of bargello patterns and techniques