Fluted onion bauble hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Fluted onion bauble: preview of the stitched design

An onion-shaped Christmas bauble hangs from a loop over its cap and is drawn down to a point with a bead on it. Seven long flutes, red and teal by turns, run down it from under its solid top: each is round at the shoulder and tapers to a point, and they lean and curve together as the outline does; one drop hangs from the narrow band below them. The outline and the loop are stem stitch; the cap, the top of the bauble, the two bands, the flutes, the drop and the bead are satin stitch.

Size and details

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

3 colors of floss and 2 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.4 × 1.9 in	3.6 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.9 in	5.1 × 7.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.9 in	6.9 × 9.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 4.9 in	8.6 × 12.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.7 × 6.8 in	11.9 × 17.3 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 304 Medium RedTop of the bauble, red flutes and drop
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawBands, bead at the point, hanging loop and cap
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTeal flutes and outline of the bauble

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 strandsTop of the bauble, bands, red flutes, teal flutes, drop, bead at the point, cap
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutline of the bauble, hanging loop

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.