Crowned star snowflake hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Crowned star snowflake: preview of the stitched design

A snowflake with twelve points grows round a six-point star cut like a gem. Six long arms grow from the points of the star, each with two pairs of branches and a French knot on every end, and six short arms grow from its notches, each ending in a slim open diamond. The arms are sky blue back stitch, the star and the diamonds are teal back stitch, and the thirty-one French knots are navy.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in three colors.

3 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches and knots:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 2 in	4.3 × 5.1 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.9 in	6.4 × 7.4 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.9 in	8.6 × 9.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.9 in	10.7 × 12.4 cm
8 in (20 cm)	5.9 × 6.8 in	15 × 17.3 cm

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 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseStar at the middle and the diamonds
DMC 3755 Baby BlueArms and branches
DMC 336 Navy BlueCenter knot, and knots on the ends of the arms and branches

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

Back stitch 2 strandsStar at the middle and the diamonds, arms and branches
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCenter knot, knots on the ends of the arms and branches

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.