Marigold laurel wreath hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 4 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Marigold laurel wreath: preview of the stitched design

This open wreath is in the manner of a laurel: two branches, each clothed with pairs of leaves and a single leaf at its tip, rise from a marigold at the foot and leave the wreath open at the top, with room in the middle for a name or a date. The marigold has three rings of scalloped satin stitch petals, orange outside, gold between and orange within, round a gold French knot. The branches are stem stitch and the leaves are satin stitch in a dark and a light green.

Size and details

Easy. Short satin stitches, no shading.

4 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)	1.6 × 1.7 in	4.1 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2.5 in	6.4 × 6.4 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 3.3 in	8.4 × 8.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.1 × 4.2 in	10.4 × 10.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	5.7 × 5.8 in	14.5 × 14.7 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 922 Light CopperMarigold outer petals and marigold inner petals
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawMarigold middle petals and marigold center

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), marigold outer petals, marigold middle petals, marigold inner petals
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsMarigold 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.