Paw print heart in a wreath hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Paw print heart in a wreath: preview of the stitched design

A paw print sits in a heart inside a laurel wreath, open at the top and tied with a bow at the foot. The heart has two outlines, the outer heart outline in red stem stitch and the inner in pink chain stitch. The paw print is brown satin stitch: one large pad with four toes above it. The wreath is two dark green stem stitch stems that rise from the bow, with satin stitch leaves, each half dark green and half light green. The red bow and its bow tails are satin stitch and the bow knot is padded satin stitch.

Size and details

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

5 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)	1.7 × 1.8 in	4.3 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.7 in	6.6 × 6.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.6 in	8.6 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.5 in	10.9 × 11.4 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 6.2 in	15.2 × 15.7 cm	11/16 in (17 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 304 Medium RedBow, bow tails, bow knot and outer heart outline
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseInner heart outline
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownPaw print

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 strandsStems, outer heart outline
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), bow, bow tails, paw print
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsInner heart 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.