Happy fall hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Happy fall: preview of the stitched design

The words HAPPY FALL stand in two lines of sturdy rust block capitals between two garlands of oak leaves, with a small heart at each side of FALL. Each garland has a gold sunflower at its middle and a branch to each side with a pair of oak leaves, two acorns on stalks and a leaf at its tip. The letters, hearts, sunflowers and acorns are satin stitch, the oak leaves are satin stitch in orange and rust and the branches and stalks are stem stitch, with French knots for the sunflower seeds.

Size and details

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

5 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)	1.5 × 1.8 in	3.8 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.7 in	5.8 × 6.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 3.6 in	7.9 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 4.5 in	9.9 × 11.4 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.4 × 6.3 in	13.7 × 16 cm	5/8 in (16 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 5/8 in (16 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.
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 3781 Dark Mocha BrownBranches, stalks, acorn cups and sunflower centers
DMC 922 Light CopperOrange half of each oak leaf
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaRust half of each oak leaf, lettering and hearts
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownAcorns and sunflower seeds
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawSunflower petals

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 strandsBranches, stalks
Satin stitch 2 strandsOak leaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), acorns, acorn cups, sunflower petals, sunflower centers, lettering, hearts
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsSunflower seeds

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.