Compass rose in a ring hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Compass rose in a ring: preview of the stitched design

A compass rose stands in a ring: four long points for north, east, south and west and four shorter points between them, each split down its middle with one half in satin stitch and the other left open inside a back stitch line, so that the rose seems to stand up from the cloth. The north point is red, the other long points navy and the short points gold, and the four long points touch a double ring of stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

3 colors of floss and 3 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)	2.5 × 2.5 in	6.4 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.4 in	8.6 × 8.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.2 in	10.7 × 10.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.9 × 5.9 in	15 × 15 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 304 Medium RedDark half of the north point
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawDark half of a short point
DMC 336 Navy BlueDark half of a long point, points and ring

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 strandsDark half of the north point, dark half of a short point, dark half of a long point
Back stitch 2 strandsPoints
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing

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.