Santiago cross hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 2 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Santiago cross: preview of the stitched design

The cross of Saint James is drawn as a sword: the grip ends in a spade-shaped pommel, the two side arms end in fleurs-de-lis with curled petals, and the long lower arm is a blade that tapers to a point. The outline is one line of stem stitch, the three bands are satin stitch, the veins in the pommel and in the pointed middle petal of each side arm are back stitch, the line down the blade is running stitch and the crossing is a French knot.

Size and details

Easy. Line stitches and French knots, with a little satin stitch.

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)	1.3 × 1.9 in	3.3 × 4.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.9 in	5.1 × 7.4 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.6 × 3.8 in	6.6 × 9.7 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.3 × 4.8 in	8.4 × 12.2 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.6 × 6.7 in	11.7 × 17 cm	3/16 in (5 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 304 Medium RedCross outline and petal veins
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawLine down the blade, bands and crossing

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 strandsCross outline
Running stitch 3 strandsLine down the blade
Back stitch 2 strandsPetal veins
Satin stitch 2 strandsBands
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCrossing

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.