Bright North Star hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Bright North Star: preview of the stitched design

The North Star is one great four-pointed star, taller than it is wide, whose four arms meet in the middle, each arm two halves of satin stitch worked out from its middle line, with four slim rays in satin stitch coming out from behind it between the arms. Round it stands an upright oval of eight small four-pointed stars in satin stitch with a French knot between each and the next.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

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 × 1.8 in	3.6 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.1 × 2.7 in	5.3 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.8 × 3.5 in	7.1 × 8.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.5 × 4.4 in	8.9 × 11.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5 × 6.2 in	12.7 × 15.7 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.
In a 3 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 726 Light TopazSlim rays
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawStar
DMC 336 Navy BlueRing of stars and ring of knots

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 strandsSlim rays, star, ring of stars
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsRing of knots

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.