Acorn in autumn laurel hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Acorn in autumn laurel: preview of the stitched design

One large acorn hangs from a short stalk under two orange oak leaves, inside an open laurel wreath tied at the foot with a rust bow. The acorn is tan long and short stitch, and its cup is three rows of scalloped scales in brown satin stitch under a brown satin stitch stalk. Each of the two branches of the wreath is brown stem stitch and carries nine pairs of laurel leaves and a single leaf at its tip, in orange, gold and rust by turns; the laurel leaves and the oak leaves are fishbone stitch. The bow and the tails of the bow are satin stitch, and the knot of the bow is padded satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch.

5 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.8 in	4.3 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.7 in	6.4 × 6.9 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.5 in	8.6 × 8.9 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.4 in	10.7 × 11.2 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.9 × 6.2 in	15 × 15.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownBranches, stalk and scales of the acorn cup
DMC 922 Light CopperOrange laurel leaves and oak leaves
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold laurel leaves
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRust laurel leaves, bow, tails of the bow and knot of the bow
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownAcorn

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBranches
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLaurel leaves, oak leaves
Satin stitch 2 strandsBow, tails of the bow, stalk, scales of the acorn cup
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsKnot of the bow
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsAcorn

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.