Christmas lights ring hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Christmas lights ring: preview of the stitched design

A string of thirteen Christmas lights is tied in a ring with a red bow at the top, and the middle is open for a name or a date. The wire is green stem stitch; the lamps are satin stitch in red, gold and turquoise, each in a small green satin stitch socket, and the loops, the tails and the knot of the bow are red satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 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)	1.7 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.6 in	6.6 × 6.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.4 in	8.6 × 8.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.3 in	10.9 × 10.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 6 in	15.2 × 15.2 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.

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 GreenWire and sockets of the lamps
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTurquoise lamps
DMC 304 Medium RedRed lamps, tails of the bow, loops of the bow and knot of the bow
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold lamps

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 strandsWire
Satin stitch 2 strandsLamps, sockets of the lamps, tails of the bow, loops of the bow, knot of the bow

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.