Heart key in laurel hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Heart key in laurel: preview of the stitched design

A key whose bow (its handle) is a heart stands upright inside an open laurel wreath tied with a ribbon bow at its foot. The heart is two outlines in stem stitch, one inside the other; the shaft, the two gold collars on it and the notched bit (the part that turns the lock) are satin stitch, with a small satin stitch ball at the tip; the laurel leaves are satin stitch on stems of stem stitch, and the ribbon bow is satin stitch with a padded knot.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

4 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)	1.7 × 1.8 in	4.3 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.7 in	6.6 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.6 in	8.6 × 9.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.5 in	10.9 × 11.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 6.2 in	15.2 × 15.7 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 304 Medium RedHeart of the key and ribbon bow, ribbon tails, ribbon knot, bit, and shaft
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCollars and tip

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 strandsStems, heart of the key
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), ribbon bow, ribbon tails, bit, shaft, collars, tip
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsRibbon knot

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.