Paisley medallion hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 3 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Paisley medallion: preview of the stitched design

A round medallion has an eight-petal lotus at its heart, a ring of eight paisleys whose tips all curl the same way with a small bud between each pair, and a rim of sixteen pointed lotus petals. The rings, paisleys and petals are stem stitch outlines, the teardrop inside each paisley and the veins of the petals are back stitch, the buds are single lazy daisy stitches, and the dots are French knots.

Size and details

Easy. Simple stitches in three colors.

3 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.7 in	17 × 17 cm

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 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseRings, paisleys and buds
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseRim petals, rim petal veins, teardrops inside the paisleys, lotus petals and lotus veins
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawPaisley dots, bud dots and center

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 strandsRings, rim petals, paisleys, lotus petals
Back stitch 2 strandsRim petal veins, teardrops inside the paisleys, lotus veins
Lazy daisy stitch 2 strandsBuds
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsPaisley dots, bud dots, center

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.