Hamsa charm hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Hamsa charm: preview of the stitched design

A hamsa, a hand-shaped charm, hangs fingers down from a small ring, with an eye inside a zigzag medallion in the palm, two thumbs curling outward, chevrons down the middle finger and a leafy stem down each side finger. The hand, the eye and the medallion are stem stitch, the chevrons and stems are back stitch, the leaves are lazy daisy stitches, the iris is satin stitch and the dots are knots.

Size and details

Intermediate. Line stitches, lazy daisy stitch and French knots, with a little satin stitch; from a 5 inch hoop up the satin stitches are long.

3 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.9 in	4.3 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.9 in	6.4 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.8 in	8.6 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.8 in	10.7 × 12.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.9 × 6.7 in	15 × 17 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.
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 3852 Very Dark StrawHanging ring and dots
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaHand outline, finger lines, knuckle line, eye, pupil and chevrons on the middle finger
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseZigzag medallion, iris, stems on the side fingers and leaves on the side fingers

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 strandsHanging ring, hand outline, finger lines, knuckle line, zigzag medallion, eye
Satin stitch 2 strandsIris
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsPupil, dots
Back stitch 2 strandsChevrons on the middle finger, stems on the side fingers
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsLeaves on the side fingers

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.