Palm island at sunset hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 6 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Palm island at sunset: preview of the stitched design

A tropical island with two palm trees fills a round ring, the same left and right. The island is a low tan mound, and the tan trunks of the palms lean outward from it, each topped with drooping green fronds. Between the trunks the sun sits in four level bands, two gold above two orange. Below the island the sea lies in four rows of waves, teal and blue by turns, with teal at the top. The sun, the trunks of the palms, the island and the sea are satin stitch, the fronds of the palms are fishbone stitch, and the ring is green stem stitch.

Size and details

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

6 colors of floss and 3 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 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.9 in	7.4 × 7.4 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.8 in	12.2 × 12.2 cm	7/16 in (11 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.7 in	17 × 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 3852 Very Dark StrawUpper sun
DMC 922 Light CopperLower sun
DMC 3828 Hazelnut BrownTrunks of the palms and island
DMC 986 Very Dark Forest GreenFronds of the palms and ring
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseTeal sea
DMC 3755 Baby BlueBlue sea

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 strandsSun, trunks of the palms, island, sea
Fishbone stitch 2 strandsFronds of the palms
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing

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.