Pagoda in cherry blossom hand embroidery pattern

Easy · 5 colors · 5 kinds of stitch

Pagoda in cherry blossom: preview of the stitched design

A pagoda of three tiers stands between two boughs of cherry blossom that climb from the foot up either side and stay open at the top. The boughs carry seven blossoms, each with five satin stitch petals and a French knot in the middle, and pairs of fishbone stitch leaves on a stem stitch line. The roofs, the posts, the balconies and the stone base are satin stitch, the arched door is back stitch, and the gold spire is a back stitch rod with three satin stitch rings and a knot at its tip.

Size and details

Easy. In a hoop of 6 inches or less: short satin stitches, no shading; in a larger hoop the widest satin stitches are long.

5 colors of floss and 5 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 × 2.4 in	7.1 × 6.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.7 × 3.2 in	9.4 × 8.1 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.7 × 4 in	11.9 × 10.2 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.5 × 5.6 in	16.5 × 14.2 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 336 Navy BlueStone base and roofs
DMC 355 Dark Terra CottaPosts, door and balconies
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawRod of the spire, rings of the spire, knot at the tip of the spire and blossom middles
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenBoughs and leaves
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseBlossom petals

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

Satin stitch 2 strandsStone base, posts, balconies, roofs, rings of the spire, blossom petals
Back stitch 2 strandsDoor, rod of the spire
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnot at the tip of the spire, blossom middles
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsBoughs
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsLeaves

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.