Piano keys in a ring hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Piano keys in a ring: preview of the stitched design

A piano keyboard is bent into a round ring of five octaves, with a D at the top so that the two halves match. The two rounds are stem stitch, the lines between the thirty-five white keys are back stitch and the twenty-five dark keys are satin stitch; inside the ring is a round of thirty-five French knots, one to a white key, about a rosette of five petals over five more in fishbone stitch with a middle of satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

4 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.7 in	9.4 × 9.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.6 in	11.7 × 11.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 6.5 in	16.5 × 16.5 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 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 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 336 Navy BlueWhite keys, dark keys and keyboard
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBeads and middle of the rosette
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RosePetals behind
DMC 304 Medium RedPetals

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

Back stitch 2 strandsWhite keys
Satin stitch 2 strandsDark keys, middle of the rosette
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsKeyboard
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsBeads
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsPetals behind, petals

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.