Bowling pins and ball hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Bowling pins and ball: preview of the stitched design

A bowling ball is drawn with three pins around it. One pin stands at each side of the ball, and the third stands behind it in the middle, so that its upper part shows above the ball. The outlines of the pins are navy stem stitch, and each pin has two red pin bands in satin stitch across its neck. The ball outline is teal stem stitch, a plain circle, with three teal finger holes in satin stitch set in a triangle inside it: one above and two below.

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)	1.4 × 1.3 in	3.6 × 3.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2 in	5.6 × 5.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.9 × 2.6 in	7.4 × 6.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.6 × 3.3 in	9.1 × 8.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.1 × 4.6 in	13 × 11.7 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
DMC 304 Medium RedPin bands
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseBall outline and finger holes

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.