Redwork mittens on a cord hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 1 color · 2 kinds of stitch

Redwork mittens on a cord: preview of the stitched design

This is a redwork pair of mittens joined by a cord, thumbs turned inward. Each mitten has a ribbed cuff at the bottom, and above it a row of points between two bands, a diamond with a smaller diamond inside it, and a second row of points between two bands. The cord hangs from each cuff to the middle, where it is tied in a bow with two tails. The cuffs, the mittens, the thumbs, the cord and its bow, knot and tails are stem stitch; the ribs of the cuffs, the bands, the points, the diamonds and the creases of the bow are back stitch. It is all one red thread, with no filled shapes.

Size and details

Easy. Line stitches only, but a good deal of line to work.

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)	1.5 × 1.6 in	3.8 × 4.1 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.2 × 2.4 in	5.6 × 6.1 cm
5 in (13 cm)	2.9 × 3.2 in	7.4 × 8.1 cm
6 in (15 cm)	3.6 × 4 in	9.1 × 10.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	5.1 × 5.6 in	13 × 14.2 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 RedCuffs, mittens, thumbs, knot of the bow, bow, tails of the bow, cord, ribs of the cuffs, bands of the mittens, points of the mittens, diamonds of the mittens and creases of the bow

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 strandsCuffs, mittens, thumbs, knot of the bow, bow, tails of the bow, cord
Back stitch 2 strandsRibs of the cuffs, bands of the mittens, points of the mittens, diamonds of the mittens, creases of the bow

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.