Art deco four fan medallion hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Art deco four fan medallion: preview of the stitched design

An art deco medallion is built on a square and looks the same from every side. The square is made of four navy bars, and on each bar stands a half-round fan that opens outward: a navy rim, then a gold outer band, a teal inner band and a gold center. Inside the square a diamond stands on its point, a gold band around a navy center worked in four parts. Each corner of the square holds a teal triangle worked in two halves. The rims of the fans are stem stitch, and every other part is satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a third of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop and a great deal of stitching; from a 6 inch hoop up some of the satin stitches are long.

3 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)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.9 × 3.9 in	9.9 × 9.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.9 × 4.9 in	12.4 × 12.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.8 × 6.8 in	17.3 × 17.3 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 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 336 Navy BlueRims of the fans, bars of the square and center of the diamond
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawOuter bands of the fans, centers of the fans and band of the diamond
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseInner bands of the fans and triangles in the corners

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 strandsRims of the fans
Satin stitch 2 strandsOuter bands of the fans, inner bands of the fans, centers of the fans, bars of the square, band of the diamond, center of the diamond, triangles in the corners

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.