Filigree bauble hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Filigree bauble: preview of the stitched design

A round Christmas bauble hangs from a ring over its cap, with a rosette of eight loops round a dot at its middle, four hearts of scrollwork set round the rosette with their points toward it, and a loop and a dot between each two hearts. The ball, the scrolls and the ring are stem stitch, the cap is satin stitch, every loop of the rosette and between the hearts is one lazy daisy stitch and the dots are French knots.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

3 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.5 × 1.9 in	3.8 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.9 in	5.8 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3 × 3.8 in	7.6 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.8 × 4.8 in	9.7 × 12.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.3 × 6.7 in	13.5 × 17 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 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 304 Medium RedBall and rosette
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawHearts of scrollwork, dot in the rosette, dots between the hearts, hanging ring and cap
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenLoops between the hearts

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 strandsBall, hearts of scrollwork, hanging ring
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsRosette, loops between the hearts
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsDot in the rosette, dots between the hearts
Satin stitch 2 strandsCap

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.