Keyhole plate hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Keyhole plate: preview of the stitched design

The plate of an old lock is seen face on: an oval with a round lobe above and below it, a second oval inside the first, and the keyhole in the middle between two engraved sprigs of laurel that rise from one bead at its foot. Both ovals are stem stitch with a row of French knots between them like a beaded edge; the sprigs are small leaves in fishbone stitch on stems of stem stitch, the keyhole is one shape in satin stitch, and a round of satin stitch stands for the screw in each lobe.

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)	1.2 × 1.8 in	3 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.8 × 2.7 in	4.6 × 6.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.4 × 3.6 in	6.1 × 9.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3 × 4.6 in	7.6 × 11.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.1 × 6.4 in	10.4 × 16.3 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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownPlate, stems and leaves
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBeads, screws and bead at the foot of the sprigs
DMC 336 Navy BlueKeyhole

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 strandsPlate, stems
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsBeads, bead at the foot of the sprigs
Satin stitch 2 strandsScrews, keyhole
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves

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.