Christmas bell with a green bow hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Christmas bell with a green bow: preview of the stitched design

One large bell hangs straight from a bow: the bell is outlined in stem stitch and carries a band at its shoulder, a broad band along its lip and five long drops fanned between them, all in satin stitch, with a satin stitch clapper below its mouth. The bow is satin stitch laid across the ribbon, with two full loops, a plump knot and two swallow tails that hang to either side of the bell.

Size and details

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

4 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 × 1.6 in	3.6 × 4.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.4 in	5.1 × 6.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.1 in	6.9 × 7.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 3.9 in	8.6 × 9.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.8 × 5.5 in	12.2 × 14 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawClapper, knob of the bell, bell outline and bands of the bell
DMC 304 Medium RedDrops on the bell and knot of the bow
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenTails of the bow
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenLoops of the bow

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 strandsClapper, knob of the bell, bands of the bell, drops on the bell, tails of the bow, loops of the bow, knot of the bow
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBell 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.