Your First Assisi Rose: A Free Pattern and Step-by-Step Guide

Assisi embroidery is a counted-thread technique with one defining trick: you fill the background solid and leave the main design unstitched, so the picture shows as a blank shape framed by a fine outline. That reverse approach is called voided work. You may also see the craft called Assisi work, the older name still used in traditional needlework books.

Traditionally the outline is worked in a dark thread and the background in a single rich colour, most often a deep red or a soft blue. Our rose follows that tradition with a black outline and a red background, so your finished piece looks rooted in the real history of the craft.

If you have done a little regular cross stitch, you already have most of the skills you need. Assisi simply points them in a different direction. Here is what changes.

• You stitch the background, not the picture. In cross stitch you fill the design. In Assisi you fill everything around it and leave the design empty.
• The motif is always outlined. A fine line of backstitch (sometimes called Holbein or double running stitch) draws the shape so the blank rose reads clearly.
• The background uses a filling stitch. We use long armed cross stitch, a slightly stretched cross stitch that sits close and solid, giving that lovely woven look.
• The counting is the same. You still work over the squares or threads of a counted fabric, exactly as you would for cross stitch. Nothing new to learn there.

A short, friendly list. Nothing unusual, and most of it is probably already in your sewing box.

Bought a different count by mistake? It still works. 16-count gives a slightly smaller rose, 11-count a slightly larger one. The stitch count stays exactly the same.

Your Assisi Rose Chart

Here is the chart, free to use. Print it out or stitch straight from the screen, whichever suits you.

The black lines are your outline. The shaded squares are the red background you will fill in. The white rose shape in the middle stays empty, and that empty space is the whole point.

We will work in three calm steps: find the middle, outline the rose, then fill the background. Take them one at a time and there is nothing here that will catch you out.

Find Your Starting Point

Fold your fabric gently in half, then in half again. The point where the two creases cross is the centre, and that matches the centre of the chart. Starting from the middle keeps your design neatly placed, with room to spare on every side.

Pop your fabric into the hoop and tighten it until it is drum-tight. A taut surface makes every stitch easier to count and easier to place.

Outline the Rose in Backstitch

Using your black thread, work backstitch around the whole rose, following the lines on the chart. Backstitch is simply a line of stitches that go back on themselves, so the outline stays unbroken with no gaps. This is exactly like drawing the edges in a colouring book before you reach for the colour.

One strand gives a fine, delicate line. Two strands give a bolder one. If you are not sure, start with one. You can always go bolder next time.

Fill the Background With Long Armed Cross Stitch

Now for the colour. The background is worked in long armed cross stitch, which is just a slightly stretched-out version of a regular cross stitch. Instead of crossing one square, the long arm reaches across two, then a short arm comes back. Worked in rows, the stitches sit close together and give a dense, almost woven surface.

Follow the numbered diagram to learn the sequence. Bring your needle up at 1, down at 2 (the long arm across two squares), up at 3, down at 4 (the short arm back), and carry on along the row.

Work steadily in red, filling every shaded square on the chart, right up to the black outline. Leave the rose itself untouched. That blank shape is your finished design.

Working long armed cross stitch, step by step

Most stitchers finish this rose across two or three quiet evenings, so it is a lovely project to pick up and put down. When the last square is filled, take your work out of the hoop and have a proper look. That glowing red rose was made entirely by the stitches around it.

It is small enough to sit happily in a 4-inch hoop, which makes it easy to turn into something to keep or give:

• ✓ Mount it in a small hoop frame and hang it on the wall
• ✓ Trim and back it as the front of a handmade greetings card
• ✓ Make it into the cover of a little needlecase or pincushion

Assisi embroidery takes its name from the town of Assisi in Italy, the home of Saint Francis, where the technique was worked centuries ago for church linens and household pieces. The voided style, with its blank motifs and richly filled backgrounds, became its signature look.

Traditional Assisi work nearly always used a single strong colour against the natural linen: most often a deep red, sometimes a soft blue or a warm gold, with outlines in a darker shade. Designs leaned on birds, beasts and scrolling borders, so a single rose like ours is a gentle, modern way into a very old craft.

Saint Francis, Assisi

The town of Assisi, Italy

If you would like to read more deeply, several respected reference works cover the technique in detail, including Assisi Embroideries by Thérèse de Dillmont and Assisi Work and Italian Hemstitching by Carmela Testa, alongside the Dover Needlework series.

Once your rose is finished, you might enjoy trying the same voided magic on a new design, or building your counted-thread confidence with cross stitch.