Gingerbread house hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Gingerbread house: preview of the stitched design

A gingerbread house seen from the front has a steep roof with piped icing scallops under its edge and across its front, a round window in the gable, an arched door with a heart in it, an arched window to each side and a striped candy cane standing beside each wall, on a ground line. The house, the icing, the canes and the ground line are stem stitch, the window bars and the cane stripes are back stitch, the heart is satin stitch, and the candy under the peak and the door knob are French knots.

Size and details

Easy. Stem stitch, back stitch and French knots, 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)	1.6 × 1.4 in	4.1 × 3.6 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.2 in	6.1 × 5.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 2.9 in	8.1 × 7.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 3.6 in	9.9 × 9.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.5 × 5 in	14 × 12.7 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.

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 BrownWalls and ground, roof, round window, bars of the round window, door, side windows, and bars of the side windows
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseOutline of the icing under the roof, icing across the front and icing round the door
DMC 304 Medium RedCandy under the peak, heart in the door, door knob, candy canes and stripes of the canes

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 strandsWalls and ground, outline of the icing under the roof, roof, icing across the front, round window, icing round the door, door, side windows, candy canes
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCandy under the peak, door knob
Back stitch 2 strandsBars of the round window, bars of the side windows, stripes of the canes
Satin stitch 2 strandsHeart in the door

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.