Polka dot bow hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Polka dot bow: preview of the stitched design

A bow of dotted ribbon has two full loops, a plump knot and two tails cut on the slant, with a row of dots down the middle of the ribbon. The edges of the ribbon are navy stem stitch, every dot is a red French knot, and the knot of the bow is brick red satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Dozens of French knots; from a 5 inch hoop up the widest satin stitches are long.

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)	1.7 × 1.4 in	4.3 × 3.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.1 in	6.4 × 5.3 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 2.8 in	8.4 × 7.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.1 × 3.5 in	10.4 × 8.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 5 in	14.7 × 12.7 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 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 336 Navy BlueBow tails and bow loops
DMC 304 Medium RedDots on the bow
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaBow knot

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 strandsBow tails, bow loops
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsDots on the bow
Satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot

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.