Blackwork snowflake hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 1 color · 3 kinds of stitch

Blackwork snowflake: preview of the stitched design

A blackwork snowflake is made wholly of diamonds, with six arms alike, in one navy thread. At the middle is a star of six diamonds filled with a close net of back stitch. From each point of the star grows an arm: one diamond with a French knot in it, then a fan of three diamonds with a French knot beyond each tip. The star, the lines between its diamonds, the diamonds of the arms and the fans at the tips are all outlined in stem stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in one color.

1 color of floss and 3 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches and knots:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.9 in	4.3 × 4.8 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.9 in	6.4 × 7.4 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.8 in	8.4 × 9.7 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.8 in	10.7 × 12.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 6.7 in	14.7 × 17 cm

In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

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 BlueClose net of the star, knots in the diamonds of the arms, knots beyond the tips, lines between the diamonds of the star, star, diamonds of the arms and fans at the tips

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

Back stitch 2 strandsClose net of the star
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots in the diamonds of the arms, knots beyond the tips
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsLines between the diamonds of the star, star, diamonds of the arms, fans at the tips

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.