Peacock mandala hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 4 colors · 4 kinds of stitch

Peacock mandala: preview of the stitched design

A round mandala of peacock-feather petals is set about a gold woven wheel: twelve middle-sized petals in teal, then the twelve largest petals in navy, and inside each navy petal one of the twelve smallest petals, in purple, with a gold French knot, like the eye of a feather. A ring of knots lies between the teal and the navy petals, and a rim of twenty-four teal back stitch scallops with a knot beyond each closes the round. Every ring repeats evenly, so it can be stitched a wedge at a time.

Size and details

Intermediate. Dozens of French knots; from a 6 inch hoop up the widest satin stitches are long.

4 colors of floss and 4 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.7 × 1.7 in	4.3 × 4.3 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.6 in	6.6 × 6.6 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.4 × 3.4 in	8.6 × 8.6 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.3 × 4.3 in	10.9 × 10.9 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6 × 6 in	15.2 × 15.2 cm	9/16 in (14 mm)

In an 8 inch hoop the widest satin stitch shape is 9/16 in (14 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.
In a 3 or 4 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 3852 Very Dark StrawMiddle and knots
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseMiddle-sized petals and scallops
DMC 336 Navy BlueLargest petals
DMC 208 Very Dark LavenderSmallest 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

Woven wheel stitch 2 strandsMiddle
Satin stitch 2 strandsPetals
French knot 2 strands, two wrapsKnots
Back stitch 2 strandsScallops

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.