Woman with flowing hair hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

The head and neck of a woman are shown in profile with her eye closed, and her long hair streams out behind her in waving locks, each one ending in a curl. The face and neck are brown stem stitch, the long locks are red-brown stem stitch with finer strands of back stitch between them, the lashes are straight stitches and the lips are satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Stem stitch, back stitch and straight stitch, with a little satin stitch.

3 colors of floss and 4 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 × 1.6 in	3.8 × 4.1 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2.3 in	5.6 × 5.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3 × 3.1 in	7.6 × 7.9 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.7 × 3.9 in	9.4 × 9.9 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.2 × 5.5 in	13.2 × 14 cm	3/16 in (5 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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownFace, neck and shoulder, closed eye and eyebrow, and lashes
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseLips
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaLong locks of hair and fine strands

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 strandsFace, neck and shoulder, long locks of hair
Satin stitch 2 strandsLips
Back stitch 2 strandsClosed eye and eyebrow, fine strands
Straight stitch 2 strandsLashes

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.