Santa Claus from the front hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Santa Claus from the front: preview of the stitched design

Santa Claus is seen from the front, his hat pulled down to his nose. His tall pointed hat is outlined in red stem stitch with rows of red chain stitch round it, a white pompom at its tip and a white scalloped brim. Under the brim sit a pink nose, a white mustache and a long curly beard outlined in gray stem stitch, which reaches nearly to the belt. The coat and its two sleeves are outlined in red stem stitch. The pompom, the brim, the nose, the mustache, the white cuffs, the red mittens, the brown belt, the gray buckle, the white hem of the coat and the brown boots are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

5 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)	1.1 × 1.8 in	2.8 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.7 × 2.7 in	4.3 × 6.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.2 × 3.6 in	5.6 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.8 × 4.5 in	7.1 × 11.4 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.9 × 6.4 in	9.9 × 16.3 cm	11/16 in (17 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownBoots and belt
DMC 304 Medium RedCoat outline, outlines of the sleeves, mittens, hat outline and rows round the hat
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayBuckle and beard outline
DMC B5200 Snow WhiteCuffs, hem of the coat, pompom of the hat, brim of the hat and mustache
DMC 152 Medium Light Shell PinkNose

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 strandsBoots, belt, buckle, mittens, cuffs, hem of the coat, pompom of the hat, brim of the hat, mustache, nose
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsCoat outline, outlines of the sleeves, beard outline, hat outline
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsRows round the hat

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.