Oak leaf and acorn star hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 6 kinds of stitch

Oak leaf and acorn star: preview of the stitched design

Six acorns and six oak leaves stand by turns round a medallion and point outward like the rays of a star. The oak leaves are orange fishbone stitch, the acorns are tan long and short stitch, and each acorn cup, the end next to the medallion, is three rows of scales in brown satin stitch. The ring of the medallion is brown stem stitch. Inside it six orange satin stitch petals open round a tan middle of padded satin stitch, with a brown French knot between each two petals.

Size and details

Intermediate. Uses long and short stitch.

3 colors of floss and 6 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 × 1.6 in	4.8 × 4.1 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.8 × 2.5 in	7.1 × 6.4 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.3 in	9.4 × 8.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.6 × 4.1 in	11.7 × 10.4 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 5.7 in	16.5 × 14.5 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)

In a 3 inch hoop the French knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them 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 922 Light CopperOak leaves and petals of the medallion
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownAcorns and middle of the medallion
DMC 3781 Dark Mocha BrownScales of the acorn cups, ring of the medallion and knots of the medallion

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

Fishbone stitch 2 strandsOak leaves
Long and short stitch 1 or 2 strandsAcorns
Satin stitch 2 strandsScales of the acorn cups, petals of the medallion
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing of the medallion
Padded satin stitch 2 strandsMiddle of the medallion
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots of the medallion

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.