Holly berry bookmark hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Holly berry bookmark: preview of the stitched design

A sprig of holly runs up the middle of a bookmark bordered in running stitch. A straight stem of brown stem stitch rises from a cluster of three red French knot berries at its foot, with three pairs of prickly leaves that lean toward its tip, growing smaller as they go, and one upright leaf at the tip. Every leaf is two satin stitch halves, one in a lighter and one in a darker green, that meet on its center vein. Stitch it on a strip of linen or felt and back it with felt.

Size and details

Easy. Running stitch, stem stitch and French knots, with some short satin stitches.

4 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	0.6 × 1.9 in	1.5 × 4.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	0.9 × 2.8 in	2.3 × 7.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	1.2 × 3.7 in	3 × 9.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	1.5 × 4.6 in	3.8 × 11.7 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	2.1 × 6.5 in	5.3 × 16.5 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)

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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenBorder and lighter half of each holly leaf
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownStem
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker half of each holly leaf
DMC 304 Medium RedBerries

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

Running stitch 3 strandsBorder
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsStem
Satin stitch 2 strandsHolly leaves
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsBerries

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.