Filigree heart over leaves hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Filigree heart over leaves: preview of the stitched design

The heart is made of two long scrolls, each rising from the point at the foot, rounding one lobe and curling into a spiral inside it, with two smaller scrolls and a fan of loops filling the middle and three loops over each spiral. It stands above a crescent of leaves: two short branches of leaf pairs that rise to each side from a ribbon bow. It is worked in stem stitch, satin stitch, padded satin stitch, lazy daisy stitch and French knots.

Size and details

Easy. Stem stitch, lazy daisy stitch and French knots, with some short satin stitches and a little padded satin stitch.

4 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)	1.7 × 1.6 in	4.3 × 4.1 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.5 in	6.4 × 6.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.3 in	8.4 × 8.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.1 in	10.7 × 10.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 5.7 in	14.7 × 14.5 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)

In a 3 or 4 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.
In a 3 inch hoop the shortest lazy daisy loops 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenBranches and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBow, bow tails, bow knot, heart scrolls and loops in the lobes
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawInner scrolls, fan of loops and dots

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 strandsBranches, heart scrolls, inner scrolls
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), bow, bow tails
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsFan of loops, loops in the lobes
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsDots

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.