Hot-air balloon in a blossom wreath hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Hot-air balloon in a blossom wreath: preview of the stitched design

A hot-air balloon floats in a wreath of blossom that takes the shape of the balloon itself: two boughs start from one blossom under the basket and climb round either side, staying open over the top of the balloon, with nine blossoms, each with five round satin stitch petals and a French knot in the middle, and pairs of fishbone stitch leaves between them. The balloon has nine gores, the long panels from its top to its mouth, five of them satin stitch, a satin stitch crown and skirt (the bands at its top and at its mouth), a satin stitch basket and four back stitch ropes.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 colors of floss and 5 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.9 in	4.1 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.8 in	6.4 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.7 in	8.4 × 9.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.1 × 4.7 in	10.4 × 11.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.7 × 6.5 in	14.5 × 16.5 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.
In a 3 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 304 Medium RedGores
DMC 336 Navy BlueCrown and skirt, ropes, and basket rim
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownBasket and blossom middles
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenBoughs and leaves
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBlossom 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

Satin stitch 2 strandsGores, crown and skirt, basket, basket rim, blossom petals
Back stitch 2 strandsRopes
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBoughs
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsBlossom middles

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.