Clematis ring wreath hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Clematis ring wreath: preview of the stitched design

A leafy wreath carries four clematis flowers: one at the foot, one at the top and one at each side, joined by one stem that is clothed with three pairs of leaves in every quarter, all growing from the foot toward the top. The stem is stem stitch and the leaves are satin stitch in a dark and a light green. Each clematis has six pointed satin stitch sepals (the petal-like parts of the flower), purple and lilac by turns, each with a vein down the middle, round a yellow satin stitch ring with a purple French knot in it.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 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)	1.8 × 1.9 in	4.6 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.8 in	6.9 × 7.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 3.8 in	9.1 × 9.7 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.7 in	11.7 × 11.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 6.6 in	16.3 × 16.8 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

In a 3 or 4 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 210 Medium LavenderLilac clematis sepals
DMC 208 Very Dark LavenderPurple clematis sepals and clematis centers
DMC 726 Light TopazYellow ring of the clematis

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
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), lilac clematis sepals, purple clematis sepals, yellow ring of the clematis
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsClematis centers

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.