Christmas bauble with holly hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Christmas bauble with holly: preview of the stitched design

A round Christmas bauble hangs from a loop over its cap, with a ring inside its edge and a rosette of holly in the ring: six holly leaves, each with three spines to a side, spread like a star round three berries. The ball and the loop are stem stitch, the ring and the cap are satin stitch, the leaves are fishbone stitch in two halves that meet on the vein, and the berries are French knots.

Size and details

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

3 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)	1.4 × 1.8 in	3.6 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2.7 in	5.6 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.9 × 3.5 in	7.4 × 8.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.6 × 4.4 in	9.1 × 11.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5 × 6.2 in	12.7 × 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.
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 3852 Very Dark StrawRing, hanging loop and cap
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenHolly leaves
DMC 304 Medium RedHolly berries and ball

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 strandsRing, cap
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsHolly leaves
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsHolly berries
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBall, hanging loop

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.