Heart ring frame hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Heart ring frame: preview of the stitched design

A round frame is made of a ring of twelve satin stitch hearts, all upright, red and pink by turns, strung on one round cord of stem stitch with a French knot on the cord between each pair. Stitch it in a hoop round a name, a date or a single letter, for a wedding, an anniversary or a new baby.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

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)	1.9 × 1.8 in	4.8 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.7 in	9.4 × 9.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.6 in	11.7 × 11.7 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 6.4 in	16.5 × 16.3 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.
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 BlueCord and knots
DMC 304 Medium RedRed hearts
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RosePink hearts

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 strandsCord
Satin stitch 2 strandsHearts
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.