Beadwork chart paper
Plan a motif on a grid that follows the structure of loom, peyote, or brick stitch. The chart is deliberately blank: add colour, symbols, and a key that belong to your own project.
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Each outlined position is a place to record one bead, not a claim about the physical size of a bead or a finished strip. The cell-size option changes how much room you have for colour and symbols on paper. It does not calculate thread tension, bead diameter, or the finished dimensions of a project.
Loom work keeps beads in straight rows and straight columns. Peyote and brick stitch both set a bead half a position away from its neighbours, but in different directions: in peyote every second column sits half a bead higher, in brick stitch every second row sits half a bead across. The bead layout of one is the other turned through ninety degrees, although the thread path and the order beads are added are not. Pick the grid that matches the way you will work, so a counting mistake shows on paper before it shows in beads.
Start by deciding what one chart position represents: one bead, a repeat unit, or a colour change. Sketch the motif lightly, then write a small colour key beside the chart with the actual bead names or codes. Count marks every five help with a short repeat; every ten make a wider band easier to scan. Keep the project name, intended repeat width, and any turning notes on the margin, because a blank chart cannot remember them for you.
Set up a chart you can use at the bead tray
The grid only supplies a structure. These choices make that structure match the way you will count and revisit the pattern.
A motif may look plausible on any grid but shift when transferred to an offset stitch. Use loom for aligned rows and columns. Use peyote when every second column sits half a bead higher than its neighbours, and brick stitch when every second row sits half a bead across. Moving a motif between loom and either offset stitch means redrawing it; between peyote and brick stitch the bead layout carries over if you turn the chart on its side.
Small cells fit the most positions and work for a colour-only sketch. Medium cells leave more room for a pencil symbol. Large cells are useful when you annotate counts, weave direction, or corrections inside the chart. The size affects only the paper drawing, so choose legibility over an attempt to imitate a real bead.
Darker marks every five are useful when a motif repeats in short sections. Marks every ten give a faster visual check on a wider pattern. They are count aids, not instructions about where a project must begin or end; circle or label the actual repeat boundary yourself.
Column and row numbers give a shared reference when you return to a project, compare a correction, or describe a place to someone else. Turn them off for an uncluttered sketch, but write your own reference point before a blank grid becomes a working pattern.
From blank grid to working pattern
A chart becomes useful when it records decisions that would otherwise live only in your head: direction, repeat, colour, and where you stopped.
Write loom, peyote, or brick stitch on the sheet before you draw, with an arrow for the working direction. A peyote sheet turned on its side looks like a brick stitch sheet, so a chart without a title can be read the wrong way up.
If the motif repeats, draw a bracket around the smallest complete repeat and write its width and height. It is easier to check one repeat against the beads than to discover later that the copy at the far edge is one position out.
A coloured pencil is a fast draft, not an inventory. Write the bead colour name, code, or container label beside each symbol so that a similar shade does not turn into a guess after the project sits for a week.
A light grey or blue line keeps pencil and coloured pencil readable. A darker grid can help if the page will be photocopied or used in poor light, but test one printed page before committing to a stack.
When working from paper, put a removable mark beside the row you are on instead of crossing through the design. The motif stays readable when you need to undo work or use the same chart again.
The PDF is drawn for the paper size you select. In the print dialog use Actual size or 100% instead of Fit to page if you want the selected cell spacing to remain unchanged. The grid is still a planning aid, so confirm the result on one page before printing more.
FAQ
Use the loom grid for straight rows and columns. Use the peyote grid when every second column sits half a bead higher, and the brick stitch grid when every second row sits half a bead across. The generator provides planning geometry; it does not translate a finished pattern between techniques for you.
No. Cells represent positions in a pattern and are enlarged so you can draw or write in them. They do not account for bead shape, thread, tension, or the finished width and length of a piece.
This version intentionally prints a clean grid rather than a filled pattern. Add colour or symbols by hand and keep a key on the margin. That lets the same sheet work for your own bead palette and notation.
They are count references, and they fall on the same beads: the fifth, tenth, fifteenth and so on along each row and column carry the darker outline and the number. They do not define a repeat automatically, so mark the repeat boundary that belongs to your design.
In brick stitch every second row is shifted half a position across, so the chart is half a position wider than a loom chart with the same number of columns. In peyote every second column is shifted up, so it is half a position taller. The generator reserves that half position before counting, so every shifted bead stays inside the printable area.
Yes. The options are carried in the page address, so you can bookmark a configured chart and return to the same paper setup later. No account is required.