Christmas tree with baubles hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Christmas tree with baubles: preview of the stitched design

A Christmas tree in four scalloped tiers stands in a pot, with a gold star on top and eight baubles, red and gold, hanging at the tips of its tiers. The tiers of the tree are green fishbone stitch, each half of a tier worked on a slant from its edge to the center line; they are the largest shapes of the design and their stitches the longest. The trunk, the star, the baubles and the rim, the foot and the gold diamonds of the pot are satin stitch, and the pot is outlined in red stem stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long fishbone stitches.

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)	1.4 × 1.7 in	3.6 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.1 × 2.6 in	5.3 × 6.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.8 × 3.4 in	7.1 × 8.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.5 × 4.3 in	8.9 × 10.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.9 × 6 in	12.4 × 15.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

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

What you need

DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownTrunk of the tree
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenTiers of the tree
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawStar on the tree, gold baubles and diamonds on the pot
DMC 304 Medium RedRed baubles, pot outline, rim of the pot and foot of the pot

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 strandsTrunk of the tree, star on the tree, baubles, rim of the pot, foot of the pot, diamonds on the pot
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsTiers of the tree
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsPot outline

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.