Salted soft pretzel hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Salted soft pretzel: preview of the stitched design

A soft pretzel is drawn as one band that makes two lobes, crosses itself in the middle and comes down with each end laid over the bottom of the loop. The edges of the pretzel are brown chain stitch, and the band between them is left as bare cloth. White French knots, the grains of salt, are spaced along the middle of the band, with one where the arms cross. A small tan split in the belly of the pretzel, at the middle of the bottom between two grains of salt, is satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Chain stitch and French knots, with a little satin stitch.

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)	1.8 × 1.3 in	4.6 × 3.3 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 1.9 in	6.6 × 4.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 2.6 in	8.9 × 6.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 3.2 in	11.2 × 8.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.1 × 4.5 in	15.5 × 11.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)

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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownEdges of the pretzel
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownSplit in the belly of the pretzel
DMC B5200 Snow WhiteGrains of salt

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

Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsEdges of the pretzel
Satin stitch 2 strandsSplit in the belly of the pretzel
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsGrains of salt

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.