Redwork candle with holly hand embroidery pattern

Beginner · 1 color · 2 kinds of stitch

Redwork candle with holly: preview of the stitched design

This is a candle burning on a dish in redwork: one red thread, line stitches only, no filled shapes. The flame stands on its wick above the candle, with the heart of the flame drawn inside it. Wax runs down from the top of the candle in three drips, the middle one the longest. On each side of the candle three berries sit in the dish, and one holly leaf rises from behind them and leans out past the dish. The dish, the foot of the dish, the candle, the wax, the flame, the wick, the berries and the holly leaves are stem stitch; the heart of the flame and the veins of the holly are back stitch.

Size and details

Beginner. Line stitches only, fewer than 450 stitches in all.

1 color of floss and 2 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.3 × 1.5 in	3.3 × 3.8 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.3 in	5.1 × 5.8 cm
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.1 in	6.9 × 7.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	3.3 × 3.9 in	8.4 × 9.9 cm
8 in (20 cm)	4.7 × 5.4 in	11.9 × 13.7 cm

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

What you need

DMC 304 Medium RedDish, foot of the dish, berries, candle, wax, flame, wick, holly leaves, heart of the flame and veins of the holly

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 strandsDish, foot of the dish, berries, candle, wax, flame, wick, holly leaves
Back stitch 2 strandsHeart of the flame, veins of the holly

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.