Impossible triangle hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 1 kind of stitch

Impossible triangle: preview of the stitched design

The impossible triangle, the figure that could never be built, is three bars, each bent round a corner and drawn as though it lies over the next, so that the eye is led round and round. Each bar is satin stitch in a color of its own, sky blue, navy or teal, laid on one slant across both of its arms, which meet on a line at the corner. The bars are broad, so lay the stitches close and keep them even.

Size and details

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

3 colors of floss and 1 kind of stitch:

Satin stitch
Which stitch goes where

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.6 × 1.4 in	4.1 × 3.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.4 × 2.1 in	6.1 × 5.3 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.2 × 2.8 in	8.1 × 7.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4 × 3.5 in	10.2 × 8.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.6 × 4.9 in	14.2 × 12.4 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 336 Navy BlueFirst bar
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseSecond bar
DMC 3755 Baby BlueThird bar

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 strandsFirst bar, second bar, third bar

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.