Christmas bell with star and bow hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Christmas bell with star and bow: preview of the stitched design

A Christmas bell hangs by its gold cap from a red ribbon bow whose tails swing out to each side. The bell outline is red stem stitch. One large yellow star sits on the front of the bell, worked in five parts that meet in its middle. A gold band crosses the bell above the star, under the red crown of the bell, and another below it, above the red rim of the bell; the gold clapper shows under the rim. The clapper, the crown, the bands, the rim, the star, the cap and the tails, loops and knot of the bow are satin stitch.

Size and details

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

3 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.3 × 1.6 in	3.3 × 4.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.9 × 2.4 in	4.8 × 6.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.6 × 3.2 in	6.6 × 8.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.2 × 4 in	8.1 × 10.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.5 × 5.6 in	11.4 × 14.2 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 mm) 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 3852 Very Dark StrawClapper, bands and cap
DMC 304 Medium RedBell outline, crown of the bell, rim of the bell, tails of the bow, loops of the bow and knot of the bow
DMC 726 Light TopazStar

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 strandsClapper, crown of the bell, bands, rim of the bell, star, cap, tails of the bow, loops of the bow, knot of the bow
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBell outline

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.