Fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil: preview of the stitched design

A gold fleur-de-lis stands inside a Gothic quatrefoil. Its upright middle petal is split down its middle, a petal curls outward and down on either side of it, and a red band ties the three at the waist; below the band the middle petal runs down to a point, the spike, with a small curled foot, the lower end of a side petal, on each side. The fleur-de-lis and its band are satin stitch, and the navy quatrefoil, four round lobes that meet in pointed cusps, is stem stitch round a line of chain stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

3 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)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.7 in	6.9 × 6.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 3.6 in	9.1 × 9.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.5 × 4.5 in	11.4 × 11.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.3 × 6.3 in	16 × 16 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 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 BlueQuatrefoil and middle line of the quatrefoil
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawSide petals, lower ends, middle petal and spike
DMC 304 Medium RedBand

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 strandsQuatrefoil
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsMiddle line of the quatrefoil
Satin stitch 2 strandsSide petals, lower ends, middle petal, spike, band

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.