Iced gingerbread tree hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Iced gingerbread tree: preview of the stitched design

A gingerbread Christmas tree of three tiers is edged in brown chain stitch. A garland of piped icing hangs across each tier, white scallops in stem stitch with a white French knot pearl on every cusp, fifteen pearls in all. Four red satin stitch hearts stand on the tiers, each above the garland of its tier: one on the top tier, one on the middle tier and two side by side on the lowest.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: chain stitch, stem stitch and French knots, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

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)	1.3 × 1.7 in	3.3 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.9 × 2.5 in	4.8 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.6 × 3.4 in	6.6 × 8.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.2 × 4.2 in	8.1 × 10.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.5 × 5.9 in	11.4 × 15 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownEdge of the cookie
DMC B5200 Snow WhitePiped garlands and pearls of icing
DMC 304 Medium RedHearts

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

Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsEdge of the cookie
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsPiped garlands
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsPearls of icing
Satin stitch 2 strandsHearts

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.