Enchanting Christmas - Heart Bag in Anchor - Downloadable PDF

Enchanting Christmas Heart Bag Embroidery Pattern by Anchor – Free Downloadable PDF

This free downloadable PDF pattern from Anchor Studio guides you through creating a charming Christmas heart-shaped bag, designed as a decorative and functional handmade gift or seasonal accessory. Catalogued as Design No. 0060003-00709-08 and published by MEZ GmbH, this project combines classic cross stitch embroidery with simple felt construction to produce a finished heart bag measuring 22 x 22 cm, with an embroidered panel of 7 x 9.5 cm at its centre.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a heart-shaped bag constructed primarily from dark red felt, with a hand-embroidered evenweave fabric panel stitched onto the front. The bag features two heart-shaped felt panels forming the front and back, a gusset strip connecting the two sides, and a narrow handle strip, making it a fully three-dimensional, usable small bag. A star-shaped decorative button adds a festive finishing touch. The embroidered motif is worked separately on evenweave linen fabric and then incorporated into the front of the bag, giving the piece a beautifully crafted, heirloom quality.

Techniques Used

• Cross stitch – the primary embroidery technique, worked over 2 fabric threads each way on evenweave fabric. Each square on the chart represents one complete cross stitch. The pattern follows the standard rule of always completing all cross stitches before moving on to any additional detail stitches.
• Backstitch – used after the cross stitch is complete to add fine outlines, detail, and definition to the embroidered motif.
• Straight stitch – also applied as a finishing detail stitch following the cross stitch layer.
• Felt construction and sewing – the bag body is assembled from cut felt pieces using matching Coats sewing thread, with raw fabric edges neatened using zigzag stitch before embroidery begins.
• Iron-on bonding – a 20 x 20 cm piece of iron-on bonding material is used to secure and stabilise the embroidered fabric panel when attaching it to the felt front.

Stitches Used

• Cross stitch – worked with 3 strands of Anchor Stranded Cotton over 2 evenweave threads in each direction
• Backstitch – worked over 2 fabric threads, used for outlining and fine detail
• Straight stitch – used for additional decorative detail within the motif
• Zigzag stitch – used on the sewing machine to neaten raw fabric edges before embroidery commences

Materials – Threads and Embroidery Supplies

Anchor Stranded Cotton

The embroidery is stitched using Anchor Stranded Cotton 8m skeins, worked with 3 strands throughout. The palette calls for one skein each of the following colours:

• #1 (white)
• #44
• #47
• #49
• #381
• #397
• #1011

Anchor Metallic Thread

One reel of Anchor Metallic #300 is also required, adding a festive shimmer to the Christmas motif and complementing the seasonal colour palette beautifully.

Needle

A tapestry needle size 24 is specified for all embroidery work. The pattern emphasises that cross stitch should always be worked with a tapestry needle, as its blunt tip passes cleanly between fabric threads without splitting them.

Fabric

Approximately 15 x 15 cm of 25-count evenweave fabric in a natural