Jacobean flower with four petals hand embroidery pattern

Advanced · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Jacobean flower with four petals: preview of the stitched design

A flower is seen face on in the Jacobean manner, set out as a cross. Four broad petals stand at the top, the bottom and the two sides, with a pointed leaf between each two. Each petal is left open inside a navy stem stitch outline and holds a gold trellis in trellis stitch, with a pink French knot in each whole diamond. The leaves are dark green long and short stitch, each with a light green satin stitch tongue that grows from its foot and a dark green stem stitch outline. In the middle, a navy stem stitch ring holds a gold satin stitch eye inside a circle of eight pink French knots.

Size and details

Advanced. Uses long and short stitch and trellis stitch; from a 6 inch hoop up 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)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.9 × 3.9 in	9.9 × 9.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.8 × 6.8 in	17.3 × 17.3 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 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 986 Very Dark Forest GreenLeaves and outlines of the leaves
DMC 989 Forest GreenTongues of the leaves
DMC 336 Navy BlueOutlines of the petals and ring of the middle
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawTrellis of the petals and eye
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseKnots of the petals and middle knots

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

Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsLeaves
Satin stitch 2 strandsTongues of the leaves, eye
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutlines of the leaves, outlines of the petals, ring of the middle
Trellis stitch 2 strandsTrellis of the petals
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots of the petals, middle knots

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.