Flying saucer with beams hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Flying saucer with beams: preview of the stitched design

A flying saucer is seen from the side, the same left and right. A gold knob tops a blue dome in three sections, which sits on a flared teal deck. The long rim of the saucer is a navy outline with rounded ends, and seven round gold lamps sit in a row inside it. The teal bowl of the saucer hangs beneath the rim, and three yellow beams fan out below it. A four-pointed gold star stands at each corner. The rim of the saucer is stem stitch; the beams, the bowl of the saucer, the deck of the saucer, the dome, the knob of the dome, the lamps and the stars are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

5 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)	1.8 × 1.6 in	4.6 × 4.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.4 in	7.1 × 6.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.3 in	9.4 × 8.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.1 in	11.7 × 10.4 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.4 × 5.7 in	16.3 × 14.5 cm	11/16 in (17 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 726 Light TopazBeams
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseBowl of the saucer and deck of the saucer
DMC 3755 Baby BlueDome
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawKnob of the dome, lamps and stars
DMC 336 Navy BlueRim of the saucer

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 strandsBeams, bowl of the saucer, deck of the saucer, dome, knob of the dome, lamps, stars
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRim of the saucer

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.