Cornflower laurel wreath hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Cornflower laurel wreath: preview of the stitched design

A fringed cornflower sits at the foot of an open laurel wreath: two branches of paired leaves curve up either side and leave the top open. The cornflower has eight toothed sky-blue florets in long and short stitch round eight smaller navy satin stitch florets and a purple satin stitch eye with a blue French knot. The branches are stem stitch and the leaves are satin stitch in a dark and a lighter green.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch.

5 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.5 × 1.6 in	3.8 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.3 × 2.4 in	5.8 × 6.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.1 × 3.3 in	7.9 × 8.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.9 × 4.1 in	9.9 × 10.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.4 × 5.7 in	13.7 × 14.5 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)

In a 3 or 4 inch hoop the French knot is drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for it 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 GreenBranches and darker half of each leaf
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenLighter half of each leaf
DMC 3755 Baby BlueCornflower florets and cornflower center
DMC 336 Navy BlueCornflower inner florets
DMC 208 Very Dark LavenderCornflower eye

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 strandsBranches
Satin stitch 2 strandsLeaves (each half slanted to the center vein, in its own color), cornflower inner florets, cornflower eye
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsCornflower florets
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsCornflower 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.