Fern bow wreath hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Fern bow wreath: preview of the stitched design

A wreath of fern is tied with a ribbon bow: two branches rise from the bow, clothed with close ranks of slim fern leaflets, longest a quarter of the way up the frond and shorter and shorter to its tip. The top is left open. The leaflets are satin stitch, a darker green on the outer side of each frond and a paler sage on the inner side, and the stems are stem stitch. The rose bow has satin stitch loops and tails, and its knot is padded satin stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Short satin stitches, no shading, with a little padded satin stitch.

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)	1.7 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	1/16 in (1.6 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.5 in	6.6 × 6.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.4 in	8.6 × 8.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.2 in	10.9 × 10.7 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 5.9 in	15.2 × 15 cm	1/4 in (6 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenStems
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenOuter fern leaflets
DMC 989 Forest GreenInner fern leaflets
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBow, bow tails and bow knot

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 strandsFern leaflets, bow, bow tails
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsBow knot

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.