Chef hat and spoons hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Chef hat and spoons: preview of the stitched design

A chef’s tall pleated hat stands in front of two wooden spoons crossed behind it, over a cradle of laurel tied with a ribbon bow. The full top of the hat and the lines of its six pleats are stem stitch, over a band of satin stitch, the spoon handles are satin stitch, and each spoon bowl is outlined in stem stitch round a hollow of satin stitch; the laurel leaves are satin stitch on stems of stem stitch, and the ribbon bow is satin stitch with a padded knot.

Size and details

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

6 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)	1.5 × 1.5 in	3.8 × 3.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.2 in	5.8 × 5.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3 × 2.9 in	7.6 × 7.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.8 × 3.6 in	9.7 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.3 × 5.1 in	13.5 × 13 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 304 Medium RedBow, bow tails and bow knot
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownSpoon handles, outlines of the spoon bowls and hollows of the spoons
DMC 336 Navy BlueOutlines of the pleats of the hat, outline of the top of the hat and outline of the band of the hat
DMC 3755 Baby BlueBand of the hat

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 strandsStems, outlines of the spoon bowls, outlines of the pleats of the hat, outline of the top of the hat, outline of the band of the hat
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), bow, bow tails, spoon handles, hollows of the spoons, band of the hat
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot

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.