Olive branch bookmark hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Olive branch bookmark: preview of the stitched design

An olive sprig runs up the middle of a bookmark bordered in running stitch. A straight branch of brown stem stitch carries four pairs of slim leaves that lean toward its tip and grow smaller as they go, with one upright leaf at the tip; every leaf is two satin stitch halves, one in a lighter and one in a darker green, that meet on its center vein. Three purple satin stitch olives fan out on short stalks at the foot. Stitch it on a strip of linen or felt and back it with felt.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: running stitch and stem stitch, with some short satin stitches; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

4 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)	0.6 × 1.9 in	1.5 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	0.9 × 2.8 in	2.3 × 7.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	1.2 × 3.7 in	3 × 9.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	1.5 × 4.6 in	3.8 × 11.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	2.1 × 6.5 in	5.3 × 16.5 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 989 Forest GreenBorder and lighter half of each leaf
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownBranch
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenDarker half of each leaf
DMC 208 Very Dark LavenderOlives

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

Running stitch 3 strandsBorder
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBranch
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), olives

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.