Autumn wheel sampler hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Autumn wheel sampler: preview of the stitched design

A round autumn sampler has a sunflower in the middle and rings of different ornament around it. The sunflower has sixteen gold satin stitch petals around a brown center in woven wheel stitch. Two brown stem stitch circles ring the sunflower. From the first circle grow eight fishbone stitch maple leaves on short leaf stalks, the red maple leaves and the orange maple leaves by turns. Between each two maple leaves an acorn points in from the second circle, gold satin stitch with a brown satin stitch acorn cap. Outside the second circle runs a ring of small satin stitch leaves lying tip to tip, the green leaves and the orange leaves by turns, inside a brown chain stitch border.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses a woven wheel.

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)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.8 in	7.1 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4.7 in	11.9 × 11.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.6 × 6.6 in	16.8 × 16.8 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 3852 Very Dark StrawSunflower petals and acorns
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownSunflower center, circles, leaf stalks, acorn caps and border
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRed maple leaves
DMC 922 Light CopperOrange maple leaves and orange leaves of the ring
DMC 730 Very Dark Olive GreenGreen leaves of the ring

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsSunflower petals, acorns, acorn caps, green leaves of the ring, orange leaves of the ring
Woven wheel stitch 2 strandsSunflower center
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsCircles, leaf stalks
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsRed maple leaves, orange maple leaves
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsBorder

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.