Octagon frame with two fans hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 2 kinds of stitch

Octagon frame with two fans: preview of the stitched design

An octagon frame, wider than it is tall, carries a fan above and a fan below, and with its two fans the piece is a little taller than it is wide. The frame is a teal satin stitch band inside a navy stem stitch line. The line of the frame rises in a half round over the middle of the top side and dips in a half round under the bottom side. On each half round stands a fan of seven gold satin stitch rays that widen outward and end square, and inside each half round lies a teal satin stitch center of the fan. The open middle takes a name.

Size and details

Intermediate. Satin stitch over about a sixth of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop; from a 5 inch hoop up some of the satin stitches are long.

3 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 × 1.9 in	4.6 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.7 × 2.9 in	6.9 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.6 × 3.8 in	9.1 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.5 × 4.8 in	11.4 × 12.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.3 × 6.7 in	16 × 17 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 336 Navy BlueLine of the frame
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseBand of the frame and centers of the fans
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawRays of the fans

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 strandsLine of the frame
Satin stitch 2 strandsBand of the frame, rays of the fans, centers of the fans

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.