Hot-air balloon between two clouds hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Hot-air balloon between two clouds: preview of the stitched design

A hot-air balloon floats between two clouds. The envelope is seven gores, long panels that draw together under a crown of satin stitch, four of them satin stitch and three left as cloth; the basket hangs below the skirt on two ropes of stem stitch and is outlined in stem stitch and woven in two rows of chain stitch, and its rim, the skirt and the clouds are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

4 colors of floss and 3 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 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.5 in	6.6 × 6.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3.4 in	8.9 × 8.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.2 in	10.9 × 10.7 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.1 × 5.9 in	15.5 × 15 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 mm) across. Satin stitches longer than about 12 mm (just under 1/2 in) tend to work loose: divide the shape into sections, or work it in long and short stitch.

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

What you need

DMC 3752 Very Light Antique BlueClouds
DMC 304 Medium RedGores
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCrown and skirt
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownRopes, basket outline, basket weave and basket rim

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 strandsClouds, gores, crown, skirt, basket rim
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRopes, basket outline
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsBasket weave

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.