Dragonfly over daisy crescent hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 8 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Dragonfly over daisy crescent: preview of the stitched design

A dragonfly spreads its wings over a crescent of leaves: from a daisy at the foot a branch rises to each side, with four pairs of satin stitch leaves and one end leaf. The daisy has satin stitch petals and a satin stitch center with a French knot. The head, the eyes, the three-part thorax (the middle of the body) and the seven segments of the tail are satin stitch. The four wings are outlined in stem stitch, each with one long back stitch vein, a small satin stitch mark and five veins sweeping to the hind edge.

Size and details

Intermediate. Eight colors.

8 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)	1.5 × 1.6 in	3.8 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.4 in	5.8 × 6.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 3.2 in	7.9 × 8.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 3.9 in	9.9 × 9.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.4 × 5.5 in	13.7 × 14 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

In a 3, 4 or 5 inch hoop the French knot is drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for it 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 GreenBranches and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC B5200 Snow WhiteDaisy petals
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawDaisy center and wing marks
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownDaisy center knot
DMC 336 Navy BlueHind wings, fore wings and eyes
DMC 3755 Baby BlueHind wing veins, fore wing veins, blue segments of the tail and inner thorax
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTeal segments of the tail, outer thorax and head

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 strandsBranches, hind wings, fore wings
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), daisy petals, daisy center, wing marks, segments of the tail, thorax, head, eyes
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsDaisy center knot
Back stitch 2 strandsHind wing veins, fore wing veins

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.