Mini pumpkin hand embroidery pattern

Beginner · 3 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Mini pumpkin: preview of the stitched design

A small squat pumpkin is seen a little from above, with its ribs running in to a short bent stem and one long tendril ending in a coil. The pumpkin and its ribs are stem stitch, a line of running stitch follows the swell of each lobe, the stem, its ridge and its cut end are back stitch and the tendril is stem stitch.

Size and details

Beginner. Line stitches only, fewer than 450 stitches in all.

3 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch, all of them line stitches:

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.3 in	4.3 × 3.3 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.5 × 2 in	6.4 × 5.1 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.3 × 2.7 in	8.4 × 6.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.2 × 3.3 in	10.7 × 8.4 cm
8 in (20 cm)	5.8 × 4.7 in	14.7 × 11.9 cm

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

What you need

DMC 922 Light CopperPumpkin outline, ribs and swell of each lobe
DMC 730 Very Dark Olive GreenStem, and ridge and cut end of the stem
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenTendril

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 strandsPumpkin outline, ribs, tendril
Running stitch 3 strandsSwell of each lobe
Back stitch 2 strandsStem, ridge and cut end of the stem

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.