Nested rainbow raindrop hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 5 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Nested rainbow raindrop: preview of the stitched design

A rainbow raindrop is made of five raindrops one inside another, each a single line of chain stitch in its own color with an even band of cloth between one and the next: red on the outside, then orange, yellow, green and blue. In the middle sits a solid blue drop of satin stitch, and every drop comes to a point at the top.

Size and details

Intermediate. Long satin stitches from a 5 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)	1.2 × 1.8 in	3 × 4.6 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	1.8 × 2.7 in	4.6 × 6.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	2.4 × 3.6 in	6.1 × 9.1 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	3 × 4.5 in	7.6 × 11.4 cm	1/2 in (13 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	4.3 × 6.3 in	10.9 × 16 cm	11/16 in (17 mm)

In a 6 or 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 1/2 in (13 mm) or more 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 raindrop
DMC 922 Light CopperSecond raindrop
DMC 726 Light TopazThird raindrop
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenFourth raindrop
DMC 3755 Baby BlueInner raindrop and middle drop

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 strandsRaindrops
Satin stitch 2 strandsMiddle drop

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.