Anchor cross hand embroidery pattern

Beginner · 2 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Anchor cross: preview of the stitched design

An upright anchor whose shank and crossbar form a cross, with a ring at the top and two curved arms ending in pointed flukes, has a rope looped through the ring and wound down around the shank to a bound, frayed end. The anchor is outlined in stem stitch and the rope is two lines of back stitch with short slanting stitches between them for its twist.

Size and details

Beginner. Line stitches only, fewer than 450 stitches in all.

2 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.4 × 1.8 in	3.6 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.7 in	5.1 × 6.9 cm
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.5 in	6.9 × 8.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 4.4 in	8.6 × 11.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	4.8 × 6.2 in	12.2 × 15.7 cm

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

What you need

DMC 336 Navy BlueAnchor and ring
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownRope, twist of the rope, and binding and frayed end

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 strandsAnchor, ring
Back stitch 2 strandsRope, binding and frayed end
Straight stitch 2 strandsTwist of the rope

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.