Bowling ball ringed by ten pins hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Bowling ball ringed by ten pins: preview of the stitched design

A bowling ball sits in the middle of a ring of ten pins. The pins stand out from the ball like rays, evenly spaced, each with its base toward the ball and its head pointing outward. Every pin is outlined in navy and carries two red pin bands, a narrow one on the neck and a wider one nearer the base. The ball is outlined in teal and has three navy finger holes set in a triangle, one above and two below. The outlines of the pins and the ball outline are stem stitch; the pin bands and the finger holes are satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: stem stitch, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

3 colors of floss and 2 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 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.9 in	7.1 × 7.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.9 in	9.4 × 9.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.9 in	11.7 × 12.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 6.8 in	16.5 × 17.3 cm	3/8 in (10 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 336 Navy BlueOutlines of the pins and finger holes
DMC 304 Medium RedPin bands
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseBall outline

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsPin bands, finger holes
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutlines of the pins, ball outline

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.