Halved apple with two leaves hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Halved apple with two leaves: preview of the stitched design

An apple is cut in half from top to bottom. The outline of the apple is red back stitch, the skin is a band of red satin stitch along the outline, and inside the skin the flesh is one line of pink chain stitch. In the middle the core is outlined in brown stem stitch, with a short line toward the stalk and another toward the eye of the apple, and holds two brown satin stitch seeds side by side. The stalk and the eye of the apple are brown satin stitch. A satin stitch leaf arches out to each side of the stalk, each leaf half dark green and half light green.

Size and details

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

5 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.2 × 1.4 in	3 × 3.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.8 × 2.1 in	4.6 × 5.3 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.4 × 2.8 in	6.1 × 7.1 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.1 × 3.5 in	7.9 × 8.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.3 × 5 in	10.9 × 12.7 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 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenDarker half of each leaf
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownStalk, eye of the apple, core and seeds
DMC 304 Medium RedOutline of the apple and skin
DMC 152 Medium Light Shell PinkFlesh

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 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), stalk, skin, eye of the apple, seeds
Back stitch 2 strandsOutline of the apple
Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsFlesh
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsCore

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.