Faceted star ornament hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Faceted star ornament: preview of the stitched design

A five-point star ornament hangs from a loop over a small cap. Inside its red stem stitch outline a smaller star is worked in satin stitch, each point in one light gold facet and one darker gold facet. Six green French knots are set on it, one in each point of the outer star and one in the middle of the inner star. The cap is satin stitch and the loop is stem stitch.

Size and details

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

4 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 × 1.5 in	3.8 × 3.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.2 in	5.8 × 5.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 3 in	7.9 × 7.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.8 × 3.7 in	9.7 × 9.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.4 × 5.2 in	13.7 × 13.2 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.
In a 3 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them 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 RedStar
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawDark facets of the star, hanging loop and cap
DMC 726 Light TopazLight facets of the star
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenKnots

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 strandsStar, hanging loop
Satin stitch 2 strandsDark facets of the star, light facets of the star, cap
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots

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.