Black-eyed Susan bloom hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Black-eyed Susan bloom: preview of the stitched design

One black-eyed Susan is seen face on and fills the picture. Sixteen broad gold rays with rounded ends spread from a round brown eye, each ray the same shape, with a thin line of bare cloth between each two. The rays are long and short stitch worked along their length, and the eye of the flower is brown long and short stitch. Tan French knots stand on the eye, one in the middle and two rings around it.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch over much of the design.

3 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.7 in	6.9 × 6.9 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.7 in	9.4 × 9.4 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.6 in	11.7 × 11.7 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 6.4 in	16.3 × 16.3 cm

In a 3 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

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 StrawRays
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownEye of the flower
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownKnots on the eye

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 strandsRays, eye of the flower
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots on the eye

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.