Feather snowflake hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Feather snowflake: preview of the stitched design

A feathery snowflake grows round a six-point star cut like a gem. From each point of the star an arm runs out with three pairs of curved branches that sweep outward like the barbs of a feather, shorter toward the tip, and the arm runs on beyond them to a plain point. The arms and branches are navy back stitch, the star is teal back stitch, and one sky blue French knot marks the middle.

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 knot is drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for it 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
DMC 336 Navy BlueArms and branches
DMC 3755 Baby BlueCenter knot

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, arms and branches
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCenter knot

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.