Petal mandala in satin stitch hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Petal mandala in satin stitch: preview of the stitched design

A round mandala has a woven wheel at its heart with a daisy of eight coral petals round it, in a window of bare cloth inside a narrow gold ring. Round the ring stand three rows of sixteen lotus petals, raspberry, then turquoise, then navy, each row larger than the last and showing between the petals of the row in front. Every petal is satin stitch in two halves that slant away from its middle line, and the gold ring is satin stitch too.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about half of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop and a great deal of stitching; from a 6 inch hoop up some of the satin stitches are long.

5 colors of floss and 2 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	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.7 in	17 × 17 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 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.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCenter and ring
DMC 351 CoralCenter daisy
DMC 336 Navy BlueOuter row of petals
DMC 597 TurquoiseSecond row of petals
DMC 3831 Dark RaspberryFirst row of petals

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

Woven wheel stitch 2 strandsCenter
Satin stitch 2 strandsCenter daisy, ring, outer row of petals, second row of petals, first row of petals

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.