Turtle filled with flowers hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Turtle filled with flowers: preview of the stitched design

A turtle is seen from above, drawn as a thin outline that holds flowers and leaves. The shell outline, the head and the four flippers are dark green stem stitch. In the middle of the shell sits a coral flower with six light green leaves around it, and six more coral flowers stand in a ring around those, each leaf pointing between two of them. The head holds one small gold flower with five petals, and each flipper holds one light green leaf. The flower petals and the small flower petals are lazy daisy stitch, every flower center is a brown French knot, and the leaves are fishbone stitch.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in five colors.

5 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.5 in	4.1 × 3.8 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.3 in	6.1 × 5.8 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 3 in	8.1 × 7.6 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 3.8 in	10.2 × 9.7 cm
8 in (20 cm)	5.5 × 5.3 in	14 × 13.5 cm

In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them 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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLeaves
DMC 351 CoralFlower petals
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawSmall flower petals
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownFlower centers and small flower center
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenShell outline, head and flippers

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

Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsFlower petals, small flower petals
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsFlower centers, small flower center
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsShell outline, head, flippers

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.