Fishbone stitch eight-leaf star hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Fishbone stitch eight-leaf star: preview of the stitched design

A star is made of eight leaves standing at equal steps around a small ring at the center. Every leaf has the same shape, broad in its lower half and drawn out to a long point, and the leaves are light green and dark green by turns: the four that point up, down and to the sides are light green, and the four between them dark green. Fishbone stitch does most of the work: each leaf is filled with slanting stitches that cross over its middle line. The ring at the center is brown stem stitch, and the knots at the center are nine brown French knots inside it.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in three colors.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.6 in	6.6 × 6.6 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3.5 in	8.9 × 8.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 4.4 in	11.2 × 11.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.2 × 6.2 in	15.7 × 15.7 cm

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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter green leaves
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker green leaves
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownRing at the center and knots at the center

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

Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing at the center
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots at the center

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.