Cherry ruffle cupcake hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Cherry ruffle cupcake: preview of the stitched design

A cupcake is seen from the front: the frosting is piped in five ruffles of six, five, four, three and two even scallops in stem stitch, each ruffle set over the one below so that every scallop sits where two meet beneath it, and on its crown sits a satin stitch cherry with a stalk of stem stitch. The paper case is outlined in stem stitch and its five pleats are single lines of back stitch, each hanging from a cusp of the frosting.

Size and details

Intermediate. Stem stitch and back stitch, with a little satin stitch; from a 6 inch hoop up the satin stitches are long.

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 × 1.5 in	2.5 × 3.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.5 × 2.2 in	3.8 × 5.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2 × 3 in	5.1 × 7.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.5 × 3.7 in	6.4 × 9.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.5 × 5.2 in	8.9 × 13.2 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 3809 Very Dark TurquoisePaper case outline and pleats of the case
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseFrosting outline
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenStalk of the cherry
DMC 304 Medium RedCherry

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 strandsPaper case outline, frosting outline, stalk of the cherry
Back stitch 2 strandsPleats of the case
Satin stitch 2 strandsCherry

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.