Ampersand in a laurel wreath hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Ampersand in a laurel wreath: preview of the stitched design

An ampersand stands inside a laurel wreath that is open at the top. The ampersand is navy, with a small loop at the top, a round bowl below and a ball at each end: at the tip of its arm on the right and at the foot of its long stroke. The laurel is two branches that rise from a small pink heart at the foot and curve up either side of the ampersand. The laurel leaves are green and sit along both sides of the dark green laurel stems. The ampersand and the heart are satin stitch, the laurel leaves are fishbone stitch and the laurel stems are stem stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

4 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.6 in	4.8 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.4 in	7.1 × 6.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.2 in	9.4 × 8.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4 in	11.9 × 10.2 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 5.6 in	16.5 × 14.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenLaurel stems
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLaurel leaves
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseHeart
DMC 336 Navy BlueAmpersand

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsLaurel stems
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLaurel leaves
Satin stitch 2 strandsHeart, ampersand

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.