Jacobean tulip hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 6 kinds of stitch

Jacobean tulip: preview of the stitched design

A tulip with three petals is shown in the Jacobean manner. The middle petal has a navy stem stitch outline round a gold trellis in trellis stitch, with a navy French knot in each whole diamond, above a navy foot of long and short stitch with a stem stitch outline. The two outer petals cup round it in dark blue long and short stitch, each with a light blue turned edge of satin stitch and a navy stem stitch outline. The foot of the flower is gold satin stitch, on a dark green satin stitch stem that ends in a tie. Two long leaves rise from the tie in fishbone stitch, half dark green and half light green, with dark green stem stitch outlines.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch and trellis stitch.

6 colors of floss and 6 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.3 × 1.8 in	3.3 × 4.6 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.8 in	5.1 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.7 in	6.9 × 9.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 4.6 in	8.6 × 11.7 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.7 × 6.5 in	11.9 × 16.5 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

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 GreenStem, darker half of each leaf, outlines of the leaves and tie
DMC 989 Forest GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 322 Dark Baby BlueOuter petals
DMC 3755 Baby BlueTurned edges of the outer petals
DMC 336 Navy BlueOutlines of the outer petals, foot of the middle petal, outline of the foot of the middle petal, middle petal knots and outline of the middle petal
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawMiddle petal trellis and foot of the flower

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 strandsStem, tie, turned edges of the outer petals, foot of the flower
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsOutlines of the leaves, outlines of the outer petals, outline of the middle petal, outline of the foot of the middle petal
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsOuter petals, foot of the middle petal
Trellis stitch 2 strandsMiddle petal trellis
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsMiddle petal 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.