Lace doily mandala hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Lace doily mandala: preview of the stitched design

A round lace doily is drawn all in line stitches and knots, in rings that widen from the middle. At the center sits a gold French knot with six more round it, inside a teal ring of stem stitch. Twelve pointed arches in teal stem stitch stand round the ring like the petals of a flower. Beyond them come two rounds of navy lazy daisy loops, twenty-four in the first and thirty-six in the second, each round standing on a teal scalloped line and closed by another. The three lines of scallops are stem stitch. Nothing is filled.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in three colors.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.6 in	6.6 × 6.6 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3.5 in	8.9 × 8.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 4.4 in	11.2 × 11.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.1 × 6.1 in	15.5 × 15.5 cm

In a 3 or 4 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 StrawKnots in the middle
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseRing, arches and scallops
DMC 336 Navy BlueLoops

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

French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots in the middle
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing, arches, scallops
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsLoops

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.