Lighthouse on a rock hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Lighthouse on a rock: preview of the stitched design

A striped lighthouse stands on a rock in the sea. Three bands of the tower are red satin stitch and two are bare cloth inside stem stitch walls, each with a round-headed satin stitch window; the door, the gallery, the lamp in its lantern and the domed roof are satin stitch. The rock is one low island of satin stitch, and the sea is three rows of stem stitch waves that shorten downward.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 inch hoop up.

5 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.4 × 1.7 in	3.6 × 4.3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2 × 2.5 in	5.1 × 6.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.7 × 3.3 in	6.9 × 8.4 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3.4 × 4.2 in	8.6 × 10.7 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.7 × 5.8 in	11.9 × 14.7 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.
In a 3 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 336 Navy BlueWalls, windows, door, gallery, lantern, roof, eave of the lantern and ball
DMC 304 Medium RedStripes
DMC 414 Dark Steel GrayRock
DMC 3755 Baby BlueSea
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawLamp

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 strandsWalls, sea, lantern
Satin stitch 2 strandsStripes, windows, door, rock, gallery, lamp, roof, eave of the lantern
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsBall

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.