Ursa Minor constellation hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 2 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Ursa Minor constellation: preview of the stitched design

The constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is shown as seven gold stars inside a navy oval ring. Lines of navy back stitch between the stars trace a curved handle that runs from the left to a four-sided bowl on the right. Two four-pointed stars in satin stitch mark Polaris, at the left end of the handle, and Kochab, at the top corner of the bowl; the other five are knot stars, each a French knot. The ring is stem stitch and carries two small stars outlined in back stitch, one at the top and one at the foot.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: stem stitch, back stitch and French knots, with a little satin stitch; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

2 colors of floss and 4 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 × 1.2 in	4.6 × 3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 1.9 in	7.1 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 2.5 in	9.4 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 3.1 in	11.7 × 7.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 4.3 in	16.3 × 10.9 cm	3/8 in (10 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 336 Navy BlueRing, stars on the ring and lines between the stars
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawFour-pointed stars and knot stars

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

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing
Back stitch 2 strandsStars on the ring, lines between the stars
Satin stitch 2 strandsFour-pointed stars
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnot stars

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.