Key in a keyhole plate hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Key in a keyhole plate: preview of the stitched design

An old door key stands inside a plate in the shape of a large keyhole, round at the top over a slot that widens to its foot. The keyhole plate is one line of rust stem stitch, with a row of beads in gold French knots just inside it. The key is navy: its three-lobed handle, the bow, sits in the round top of the plate, and the neck of the bow and the shaft run down the slot to two bits, the teeth of the key, one at each side of the shaft. Two gold bands, the collar, cross the shaft, and a gold tip ends it. The bow, the neck of the bow, the shaft, the bits, the collar and the tip are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 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)	0.9 × 1.8 in	2.3 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.4 × 2.6 in	3.6 × 6.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	1.9 × 3.5 in	4.8 × 8.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.4 × 4.4 in	6.1 × 11.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.3 × 6.1 in	8.4 × 15.5 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 355 Dark Terra CottaKeyhole plate
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBeads, collar and tip
DMC 336 Navy BlueNeck of the bow, bow, bits and shaft

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 strandsKeyhole plate
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsBeads
Satin stitch 2 strandsNeck of the bow, bow, bits, shaft, collar, tip

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.