Bargello
Welcome to our bargello page to accompany our wall hanging kit from Oh Sew Bootiful! You'll find our video demonstration, tips and inspriation. Enjoy!
What is bargello?
Bargello (pronounced bar-jello) is a type of needlepoint that uses long stitches to create colourful, geometric patterns, often in very bright designs! It generally uses a mesh or canvas with regular holes, and you have a pattern so you can see where your stitches should start and end on the grid.
The name bargello originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a "flame stitch" pattern. Wavy, zigzag or flame style patterns are the most traditional bargello designs, although more modern kits (such as ours) use the same method to create all kinds of different designs. In the same way, the more traditional designs use tones of similar colours through their designs, but more modern designs experiment with a wider range of colours.
The thing I like most about bargello is that it's fun! The finished pieces look bold and striking, and stand out for all the right reasons. It's also really relaxing to stitch.
My experience with this kit
Our bargello kit makes a pretty wall hanging in a hexagonal floral design. I particularly like the spring-like colours!
This project was a lot quicker to complete than I expected! Embroidery is generally quite a slow craft, but as this kit uses thick tapestry wool and long stitches, it only took me a couple of evenings to finish.
The instructions give a few tips on how to get going, but once you have the basics, the main thing you'll use is the pattern. The squares on the pattern relate to the squares on the plastic mesh, and the lines show where each stitch starts and finishes. So to stitch up the design, you just need to count the squares.
The main thing I noticed when stitching the design is that if you allow the tapestry wool in your stitches to relax (i.e. don't pull too tightly) then it covers up the canvas nicely. It also has such a lovely texture!
I also noticed that if you cut your yarn too long then it starts to unravel and look more untidy the more you use it. I think it's best to use the length stated in the instructions, even if it does mean starting off a new length regularly!
I hope you enjoy stitching up your wall hanging as much as I did.
See this craft in progress with our bargello video tutorial!
Next steps
If you've enjoyed this introduction to bargello, then this is definitely a craft that you can run with! Oh Sew Bootiful do a lovely range of wall hangings (I've done their Christmas design which is stunning) so do check that out.
Another bargello business that I love is Hello Bargello. They're based in the USA so it isn't very feasible to purchase kits from them, but they sell pdf patterns. The thing that I like about them is that they use bargello on a wide range of projects, from bags to trinket trays, wall art and more. And they are really fun designs too :)
I've also created a Pinterest board of tutorials, tips and inspiration! Click the picture below to see what I've pinned for you :)
