Folk heart mandala hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 6 kinds of stitch

Folk heart mandala: preview of the stitched design

A round mandala has a navy satin stitch middle with rings of loops, hearts and leaves round it. Eight gold lazy daisy stitch loops ray out from the middle inside a navy stem stitch ring. Round that ring stand eight red satin stitch hearts, their points toward the center. Next comes a gold chain stitch ring, and standing on it eight larger satin stitch hearts, each with one half red and one half rust, with a green fishbone stitch leaf between each two. A second navy stem stitch ring closes them in, edged with sixteen navy stem stitch arches, and a gold French knot sits inside every arch.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 colors of floss and 6 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.7 in	9.4 × 9.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4.7 in	11.9 × 11.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 6.5 in	16.5 × 16.5 cm	7/16 in (11 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.

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 BlueMiddle, navy rings and arches
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawLoops, gold ring and knots
DMC 304 Medium RedRed hearts and red halves of the larger hearts
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRust halves of the larger hearts
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLeaves

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsMiddle, hearts
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsLoops
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsNavy rings, arches
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsGold ring
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
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.