Rippled folk star hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Rippled folk star: preview of the stitched design

A folk star of five wide points sits inside two larger stars that ring it like ripples. The star in the middle is solid satin stitch laid in ten facets: every point has a dark half in navy and a light half in blue, and the stitches of each half slant their own way. Around it, with bare cloth between, the second star is red chain stitch, and around that the outer star is navy chain stitch. Both follow the shape of the solid star, point for point.

Size and details

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

3 colors of floss and 2 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 × 1.6 in	4.3 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.4 in	6.4 × 6.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.2 in	8.6 × 8.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4 in	10.7 × 10.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.9 × 5.6 in	15 × 14.2 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.

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 BlueDark half of a point and outer star
DMC 3755 Baby BlueLight half of a point
DMC 304 Medium RedSecond star

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsDark half of a point, light half of a point
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsSecond star, outer star

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.