Easter egg with a star hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Easter egg with a star: preview of the stitched design

A decorated egg stands on end with an eight-pointed star in its middle, the star of the painted eggs of eastern Europe. A knot sits in the middle of the star and in each of the eight spaces between its points, and a fan of seven petals round a half disc fills each end beyond a band that follows the curve of the egg. The shell is stem stitch; each point of the star is two facets of satin stitch, one light and one dark; the fans and the two bands are satin stitch, and the dots are French knots.

Size and details

Easy. Short satin stitches, no shading.

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)	1.4 × 1.9 in	3.6 × 4.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.8 in	5.1 × 7.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.8 in	6.9 × 9.7 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 4.7 in	8.6 × 11.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.7 × 6.6 in	11.9 × 16.8 cm	1/4 in (6 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 3852 Very Dark StrawBands and light facets of the star
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseFan at the top, fan at the foot and knots
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseHalf discs, dark facets of the star and shell

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 strandsBands, fan at the top, half discs, fan at the foot, dark facets of the star, light facets of the star
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsShell

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.