Jacobean cardinal hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Jacobean cardinal: preview of the stitched design

Download free PDFPDF, US Letter · 123 KB

A cardinal perches in profile, with one pointed crest, a dark mask, a long tail and a wing barred in gold and rust, on a scrolling stem that lifts a sprig of two small leaves and a bunch of berries before its breast and one great veined leaf behind its back. The scrolling stem and the great leaf are in the Jacobean style, the bold plant and bird patterns of English embroidery in the 1600s. The head and crest are long and short stitch, and the mask, beak, breast feather rows, wing, tail feathers, stem, berries, small leaves and leaf rim are satin stitch. The eye is a French knot, and the outlines, leaf veins, berry twig, legs and toes are stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch; from a 5 inch hoop up the widest satin stitches are long.

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)	1.6 × 1.6 in	4.1 × 4.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.4 in	6.1 × 6.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 3.2 in	8.1 × 8.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 4 in	10.2 × 10.2 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.6 × 5.6 in	14.2 × 14.2 cm	11/16 in (17 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 or 4 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 336 Navy BlueSmall leaves, berry twig, leaf rim, leaf veins, leaf center vein, leaf outline, stem and mask
DMC 304 Medium RedBerries, red tail feathers, head and crest, red breast feather rows, and wing band
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRust tail feathers, rust breast feather rows, wing shoulder, rust wing bars, wing outline and body outline
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold wing bars, beak, legs, toes and eye

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 strandsSmall leaves, berries, leaf rim, stem, tail feathers, breast feather rows, mask, wing band, wing shoulder, wing bars, beak
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBerry twig, leaf veins, leaf center vein, leaf outline, wing outline, body outline, legs, toes
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsHead and crest
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsEye

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.