Crossed keys hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 2 colors · 1 kind of stitch

Crossed keys: preview of the stitched design

Two old door keys are crossed at the middle of their shafts. Each key has a round ring for a handle, a collar of two bands where the ring meets the shaft, and a notched bit at the far end. The keys are worked solid in navy satin stitch, with the collars and the small knobs at each end in gold.

Size and details

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

2 colors of floss and 1 kind of stitch:

Satin stitch
Which stitch goes where

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.5 × 1.3 in	3.8 × 3.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 1.9 in	5.6 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3 × 2.5 in	7.6 × 6.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.7 × 3.2 in	9.4 × 8.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.2 × 4.4 in	13.2 × 11.2 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 336 Navy BlueBow, bit and shaft
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawKnob of the bow, collar and tips

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 strandsBow, knob of the bow, bit, shaft, collar, tips

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.