Two doves on a heart hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Two doves on a heart: preview of the stitched design

Two doves lean over the shoulders of a heart and face each other, and an olive sprig of five leaves rises from its cleft between them. Each dove is outlined in stem stitch with rows of scallops down its breast; its wing is rows of scalloped satin stitch feathers, white and pale blue-gray by turns, its tail five long satin stitch feathers, its beak satin stitch and its eye a French knot. The heart is three nested chain stitch hearts round a solid satin stitch heart, and the leaves are fishbone stitch.

Size and details

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

5 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.4 in	4.6 × 3.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.1 in	6.9 × 5.3 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 2.8 in	9.1 × 7.1 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.5 × 3.5 in	11.4 × 8.9 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.3 × 4.8 in	16 × 12.2 cm	3/4 in (19 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.
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 B5200 Snow WhiteWhite tail feathers and white wing feather rows
DMC 3752 Very Light Antique BlueBlue-gray tail feathers and blue-gray wing feather rows
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayBreast feather rows, body outline, eyes and wing outline
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBeak, three heart outlines and heart middle
DMC 989 Forest GreenSprig stem and olive leaves

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 strandsTail feathers, beak, wing feather rows, heart middle
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBreast feather rows, body outline, wing outline, sprig stem
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsEyes
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsThree heart outlines
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsOlive leaves

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.