Crux constellation hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 2 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Crux constellation: preview of the stitched design

The constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, stands in an oval ring of stem stitch. Its four stars are four-pointed stars in satin stitch, the one at the foot, Acrux, and the one at the left drawn larger than the other two, joined by lines of back stitch; where the two lines cross, the shorter stops a little short of the longer on each side. The stars keep the places they have in the sky, and the cross stands upright in its ring.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: stem stitch and back stitch, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

2 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)	1.5 × 1.8 in	3.8 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2.8 in	5.6 × 7.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3 × 3.7 in	7.6 × 9.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.7 × 4.6 in	9.4 × 11.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.2 × 6.4 in	13.2 × 16.3 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

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 BlueRing and lines between the stars
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawFour-pointed stars

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 strandsRing
Back stitch 2 strandsLines between the stars
Satin stitch 2 strandsFour-pointed stars

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.