Harlequin diamonds hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Harlequin diamonds: preview of the stitched design

A harlequin lozenge is twenty-five upright diamonds set together as one large diamond. Thirteen are satin stitch, nine navy and four red by turns like a jester’s coat, and the twelve between them are left as the cloth with a gold French knot in each. A double line of red stem stitch frames the whole.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

3 colors of floss and 3 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 × 1.9 in	3.3 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.9 in	5.1 × 7.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.9 in	6.9 × 9.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 4.9 in	8.6 × 12.4 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.7 × 6.8 in	11.9 × 17.3 cm	11/16 in (17 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 336 Navy BlueNavy diamonds
DMC 304 Medium RedRed diamonds and frame
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawKnots

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 strandsDiamonds
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsFrame
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.