Nested rainbow flower hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Nested rainbow flower: preview of the stitched design

A flower has five petals set evenly around a gold eye. Each petal is a drop shape with its point toward the eye, drawn three times, one inside another: a red line outermost, then an orange line, then a green line, with bare cloth between them. In the middle of each petal is a small blue drop, the petal middle. The petals are chain stitch, and the petal middles and the eye of the flower are satin stitch.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 6 inch hoop up.

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)	1.8 × 1.7 in	4.6 × 4.3 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.6 in	6.9 × 6.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3.4 in	8.9 × 8.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 4.3 in	11.2 × 10.9 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.2 × 6 in	15.7 × 15.2 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.

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

What you need

DMC 304 Medium RedOuter line of each petal
DMC 922 Light CopperMiddle line of each petal
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenInner line of each petal
DMC 3755 Baby BluePetal middles
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawEye of the flower

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

Chain stitch 2 or 3 strandsPetals
Satin stitch 2 strandsPetal middles, eye of the flower

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.