Echo heart hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 2 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Echo heart: preview of the stitched design

A full round heart holds four smaller hearts nested inside it, one within the next, down to a solid heart at the center. The outline is stem stitch, the second heart is running stitch, the third is a row of French knots, the fourth is back stitch and the center heart is satin stitch. Each of the five hearts has a stitch of its own.

Size and details

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

2 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 × 1.6 in	4.3 × 4.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.3 in	6.4 × 5.8 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.1 in	8.4 × 7.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.1 × 3.9 in	10.4 × 9.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 5.5 in	14.7 × 14 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 304 Medium RedHeart outline, third heart and center heart
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseSecond heart and fourth heart

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 strandsHeart outline
Running stitch 3 strandsSecond heart
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsThird heart
Back stitch 2 strandsFourth heart
Satin stitch 2 strandsCenter heart

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.