Five-tier pagoda hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Five-tier pagoda: preview of the stitched design

A pagoda of five tiers is seen from the front, each tier a little narrower than the one below. Every tier has four rust posts with tan walls between them under a navy roof with upturned eaves, and a rust balcony runs under each of the four upper tiers. At the foot, navy doors fill the middle bay and the pagoda stands on a gray stone base of two steps. A gold spire of rings rises from the top roof to a short gold mast and a jewel. The mast is back stitch, the jewel is a French knot and everything else is satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a sixth of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop; from a 6 inch hoop up some of the 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 × 1.8 in	2.5 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.5 × 2.7 in	3.8 × 6.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2 × 3.6 in	5.1 × 9.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	2.6 × 4.6 in	6.6 × 11.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	3.6 × 6.4 in	9.1 × 16.3 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.
In a 3 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 414 Dark Steel GrayStone base
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownWalls
DMC 336 Navy BlueDoors and roofs
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaPosts and balconies
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawSpire of rings, mast and jewel

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 strandsStone base, walls, doors, posts, balconies, roofs, spire of rings
Back stitch 2 strandsMast
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsJewel

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.