Trinity knot over leaves hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Trinity knot over leaves: preview of the stitched design

The trinity knot is one endless ribbon drawn in three pointed loops, going over and under itself in turn where the loops cross. It stands above a crescent of leaves: two short branches of leaf pairs that rise to each side from a ribbon bow. It is worked in stem stitch, satin stitch, padded satin stitch, running stitch and French knots.

Size and details

Easy. Stem stitch, running stitch and French knots, with some short satin stitches and a little padded satin stitch.

3 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.6 in	6.4 × 6.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.4 in	8.4 × 8.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.3 in	10.7 × 10.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 6 in	14.7 × 15.2 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)

In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knot is drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for it 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenBranches, darker half of each leaf and ribbon edges
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBow, bow tails, bow knot, stitching down the ribbon and center

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 strandsBranches, ribbon edges
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), bow, bow tails
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot
Running stitch 3 strandsStitching down the ribbon
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCenter

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.