I need to come up with a better way of naming embroidery designs. I mean, really. “Circular Thing” doesn’t say much.

Anyway, this is a motif taken from an old ecclesiastical embroidery book, but obviously, the design itself is adaptable to anything. You can turn it, arrange it, make it into a connect vine-type pattern…. and on and on. Or you can just work it as is. It reminds me of something that would be suitably adapted to crewel embroidery, but any thread and any fabric would work, pretty much.

To give a little background, this is the type of little “filler design” that might be worked in ecclesiastical embroidery on vestments, on the embroidered orphreys, or decorative panels that generally form the representation of a cross on the back (and front) of a chasuble, or that form a decorative band on copes and dalmatics. Little designs like this filled in areas on the embroidered bands, between larger motifs. The designs are not necessarily religious – they are often stylized (and sometimes very symmetrical) flowers, or simply geometric designs and the like. Sometimes, they serve as “connectors” to the next part of the main design – they might be intertwined with vines, or locked together by little embroidered cuffs or tubes.

I thought it was kind of an interesting design. The funny thing is, it isn’t perfectly symmetrical. This doesn’t bother me, but it might bother you. So if you’re thinking of stitching it, and you think you’ll be annoyed by the slightly “off set” look of it, you might try squaring it up a bit before transferring the design. There’s nothing worse than realizing, after you transfer, that you wish you had made adjustments first! You can also turn the design and see if you like a better situation of it.

Here’s a PDF version, for printing:

Hand Embroidery Design of a Circular Something-or-Other

Now, your job, since I’ve given you a free pattern, is to clear your mind, close your eyes, open them quickly, look at the pattern, and then…. tell me what kind of brilliant title for the design popped into your head when you saw it! Surely someone can come up with something a little more creative than mine. But really, every time I tried, every time I looked at it, all I thought was, “It’s a… mmmm…. it’s sort of a …. a ….. It’s a…. circular thing.” I’m obviously not too poetic!

Leave a comment with your brilliant title suggestion, and I’ll love ya forever if you can help me out!

Enjoy the day!