For hand embroidery you can google images of swords for patterns. I would do several searches using different words for swords. You husband being a collector you could probably start asking him about it to try and get the names. For example google images only using "Excalibur", "Samarai", "medieval weapons", "civil war swords" you get the idea. You will get tons of images that you can turn into patterns for embroidery.
You could also google mythical creatures for patterns
http://scarlettrose.com/fantasy_patterns_2.html
http://softexpressions.com/software/books/4L1021.php
http://softexpressions.com/software/books/Spell.php