Embroidered Heart Hoop - Free sewing patterns

A heart isn’t just for Valentine’s Day: it’s an expression of love at any time of year. This gorgeous pattern from Susie Johns is filled with flowers, embroidered in bullion stitch and French knots to create plenty of texture as well as shape and colour. Go for zesty pops of yellow, orange and pink to really bring a smile to your recipient’s face.

Essentials

Cotton fabric
Six-stranded embroidery thread: pink, orange, coral, yellow, dark green, light green Embroidery needle
Embroidery hoop
Narrow ribbon

1 Download and print the template. Trace the template on to the centre of the fabric and place in an embroidery hoop, making sure the design is in the centre. Starting with light green and three strands of thread, embroider the stems in stem stitch; this will form the framework of the design. The stems are indicated with a fine, continuous line.

2 Make four bullion roses in pink, three in orange and four using coral. Using a thread colour of your choice, embroider the bullion roses, which are indicated on the design by small circles. Add the leaves using a second shade of green. These are embroidered using all six strands of thread and each leaf is indicated on the design by a short, thick line. Add French knots using three strands of thread in yellow: each one is indicated on the design by a dot.

3 Trim off any excess fabric all round, leaving a border of approximately 4cm. Fold under about 4mm to make a single hem to neaten the edge, and sew a running stitch through the two thicknesses, using strong thread.

4 Pull up the ends of the thread to gather the fabric, and knot the ends of the thread firmly together. Use a piece of ribbon to create a hanging loop, or make a braid by plaiting lengths of embroidery thread.