Compass rose hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 2 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Compass rose: preview of the stitched design

A chart compass rose has four long cardinal points and four short points between them, each split down the middle, lying over a fine double ring of marks with a fleur-de-lis above north. The points and rings are stem stitch and back stitch, one half of every point is satin stitch, the marks are straight stitches and the center is a knot.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

2 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)	1.6 × 1.9 in	4.1 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.9 in	5.8 × 7.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 3.8 in	7.9 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 4.8 in	9.9 × 12.2 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.5 × 6.7 in	14 × 17 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

In a 3 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 336 Navy BlueOuter ring, marks in the ring, short points, shaded halves of the cardinal points, cardinal points and center lines of the points
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawShaded halves of the short points, fleur-de-lis middle petal, fleur-de-lis side petals, fleur-de-lis band 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

Back stitch 2 strandsOuter ring, center lines of the points
Straight stitch 2 strandsMarks in the ring
Satin stitch 2 strandsShaded halves of the short points, shaded halves of the cardinal points, fleur-de-lis middle petal, fleur-de-lis band
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsShort points, cardinal points, fleur-de-lis side petals
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.