Horseshoe with a shamrock hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Horseshoe with a shamrock: preview of the stitched design

A horseshoe stands with its open end up and a shamrock inside it. The horseshoe is outlined in gray chain stitch, and eight gold satin stitch nails are set along it, four on each side. The shamrock has three heart-shaped leaves in green satin stitch, each worked in two halves, around a green French knot at the center of the shamrock. Its green chain stitch stalk runs straight down to the bottom of the horseshoe.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

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)	1.8 × 1.7 in	4.6 × 4.3 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.5 in	6.9 × 6.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 3.3 in	9.1 × 8.4 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.5 × 4.1 in	11.4 × 10.4 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.3 × 5.8 in	16 × 14.7 cm	13/16 in (21 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 knot is drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for it 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 GreenShamrock stalk, shamrock leaves and center of the shamrock
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayHorseshoe outline
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawNails

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

Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsShamrock stalk, horseshoe outline
Satin stitch 2 strandsShamrock leaves, nails
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCenter of the shamrock

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.