Heart key with a bow hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Heart key with a bow: preview of the stitched design

This key has a heart for its bow, the handle of a key, and a ribbon bow tied round its shaft under the collar: the two long tails of the ribbon fall to either side of the shaft and end above the two bits of the key. The heart is a band of satin stitch whose point stands in the collar; the shaft, the collar and the bits are satin stitch with a small satin ball at the tip, and all of the ribbon is satin stitch, its knot padded.

Size and details

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

3 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	0.9 × 1.9 in	2.3 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.3 × 2.8 in	3.3 × 7.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	1.7 × 3.7 in	4.3 × 9.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.1 × 4.7 in	5.3 × 11.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3 × 6.5 in	7.6 × 16.5 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 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 304 Medium RedHeart, bits and shaft
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCollar and tip
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBow, bow tails and bow knot

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 strandsHeart, bits, shaft, collar, tip, bow, bow tails
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow 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.