Ear of corn in a wheat ring hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Ear of corn in a wheat ring: preview of the stitched design

An ear of corn stands on its stalk inside a ring of wheat that is open at the top and tied with a bow at the foot. The kernels are round-topped satin stitches in rows to the tip of the ear, yellow and gold, and two pairs of green fishbone stitch husks rise beside it. The wheat is brown stem stitch stalks set with gold satin stitch grains, and the rust bow is satin stitch with a padded satin stitch knot.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a fifth of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop.

5 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.9 in	4.3 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.8 in	6.6 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.7 in	8.6 × 9.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.6 in	10.9 × 11.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 6.5 in	15.2 × 16.5 cm	3/8 in (10 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 BrownStalk of the corn and stalks of the wheat
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenHusks
DMC 726 Light TopazYellow kernels
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGold kernels and grains of wheat
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaBow, tails of the bow and knot of the bow

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 strandsStalk of the corn, kernels, grains of wheat, bow, tails of the bow
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsHusks
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsStalks of the wheat
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsKnot of the bow

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.