Harvest pumpkin in a wheat ring hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Harvest pumpkin in a wheat ring: preview of the stitched design

A pumpkin of seven lobes sits inside a ring of wheat tied at the foot with a rust bow. The pumpkin is orange satin stitch, lobe by lobe, with a brown satin stitch stalk, and beside the stalk a green stem stitch vine each side lifts a fishbone stitch leaf and sends a tendril curling out over the shoulder of the pumpkin. The ring is two ears of wheat that curve up either side and leave the top open; each has twenty-five gold satin stitch grains on a tan stem stitch stalk. Low on each stalk are two blades, the long leaves of the wheat, in tan fishbone stitch. The bow and the tails of the bow are satin stitch, and the knot of the bow is padded satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a fifth of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop; from a 5 inch hoop up some of the satin stitches are long.

6 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)	1.7 × 1.8 in	4.3 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.7 in	6.4 × 6.9 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.6 in	8.4 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 4.5 in	10.7 × 11.4 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 6.4 in	14.7 × 16.3 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.

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

What you need

DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownStalks of the wheat and blades of the wheat
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawGrains of wheat
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaBow, tails of the bow and knot of the bow
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenVines and leaves
DMC 922 Light CopperPumpkin
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownStalk of the pumpkin

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 strandsStalks of the wheat, vines
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsBlades of the wheat, leaves
Satin stitch 2 strandsGrains of wheat, bow, tails of the bow, pumpkin, stalk of the pumpkin
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsKnot of the bow

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.