Christmas tree truck hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Christmas tree truck: preview of the stitched design

A pickup truck seen from straight in front carries a tall fir tree standing in its bed, with a star on the tip of the tree. The truck is outlined in stem stitch; the four tiers of the tree, its star, the rail of the bed, the five bars of the grille, the lamps, the bumper and the tires are satin stitch.

Size and details

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

6 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.2 × 1.7 in	3 × 4.3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.8 × 2.6 in	4.6 × 6.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.4 × 3.4 in	6.1 × 8.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3 × 4.3 in	7.6 × 10.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.2 × 6 in	10.7 × 15.2 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker green fir tree
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter green fir tree
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawStar and headlamps
DMC 304 Medium RedBed outline, cab outline, outlines of the fenders, nose outline and headlamps rims
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayBed rail, grille bars, bumper and tires
DMC 3755 Baby BlueWindshield

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 strandsFir tree, star, bed rail, grille bars, headlamps, bumper, tires
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBed outline, cab outline, windshield, outlines of the fenders, nose outline, headlamps rims

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.