Agave from above hand embroidery pattern

Advanced · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Agave from above: preview of the stitched design

An agave is seen from above as a star of sixteen blades. They stand in two rings of eight, the longer ring coming out from behind the shorter, round a bud of eight young blades pressed close together. Each of the sixteen blades swells from a narrow foot to a point that ends in a brown spine, and a cream stripe runs up its middle. The greens grow lighter toward the middle: the longer blades are the darkest and the bud is the lightest. The blades, the stripes and the bud are long and short stitch laid from the middle outward, and the spines are satin stitch.

Size and details

Advanced. Uses long and short stitch over much of the design and a great deal of stitching.

5 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.7 in	17 × 17 cm	1/4 in (6 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenOuter blades
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownSpines
DMC 543 Ultra Very Light BeigeStripes
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenInner blades
DMC 989 Forest GreenBud

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

Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsBlades, stripes, bud
Satin stitch 2 strandsSpines

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.